Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

One of the steps in making Quiche Lorraine that I don’t like is having to pre-bake the pastry shell. You have to fill the pastry shell with dried beans or weights of some kind in your parchment lined dish. The pastry is baked until lightly cooked. My problem with this is that even with carefully following these instructions, the pie shell still shrinks and the edges no longer hug the top of the pie dish. I experimented with this quiche and am happy with the results.

The reason for pre-baking is to prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy. With this quiche I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F. and turned my oven to the convection setting. If you don’t have a convection oven, the higher heat should be enough to help the crust along. After 15 minutes of baking I turned off the convection and lowered the temperature to 350 degrees F. to finish cooking. The bottom crust was not crispy, but it was not soggy either. That was enough for me to avoid the extra step of pre-baking.

My pie dish was a deep dish version so I felt that I needed lots of ingredients. I added sautéed leeks, an over abundance of bacon, Gruyére cheese and extra liquid. You can scale your ingredients to the size of your dish. Enjoy.

On another note, I want to apologize for not being here on my blog more often. I certainly do not want to give up this space that has meant so much to me over the last 10 years. But other responsibilities and time constraints make it hard for me to focus as often on my favorite outlet. Bear with me and I will try to be here is often as possible.

Quiche Lorraine

• Ina’s pie crust ( I halved this and left out the sugar) or a pre-made pie crust
• 8 slices of bacon, diced

• 2 large leeks, washed and sliced
• 4 large eggs or 3 Jumbo eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 4 oz Gruyère, shredded

Refrigerate the prepared pie crust before filling.

1. In a medium nonstick sauté pan over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour off all but one tablespoon of fat from the pan. Add the leeks and cook over medium-low heat until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not brown. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2, salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg; whisk until evenly combined.
3. Spread the leeks evenly over the bottom of the crust. Top with the bacon, and the Gruyère. Pour the egg/cream mixture over top.
4. Slide the quiche into the oven and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes until the top is slightly browned and the center is set.

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It has been a quiet Winter in our Florida rental home. In the past we have enjoyed so many activities available in New Smyrna Beach. There are weekly weekend events along the main thoroughfares of Flagler Avenue and Canal Street. We have attended antique car shows, art exhibits, wine tastings and Fat Tuesday parades. But this year we have avoided the crowds. But, when Valentine’s Day came around, we traveled back to NC for our Grandson’s birthday and then stopped in Charleston on the way back to Florida. We had a glorious warm and sunny day to explore this quaint town. One of the perennial favorite restaurants is called 82 Queen. They are repudiated to have the best crab cakes in Charleston. We had lunch in the courtyard.

I ordered the appetizer of Crab Cake with Bacon Sautéed Corn and Red Pepper Aioli.

It was delicious and it was fun trying to duplicate this at home. I think I came up with a good recipe combination using recipes found on line and adapting them to our tastes. The below recipe makes a lot. For the two of us I cut it in less than half. It is easy to adjust it to your needs.

Crab Cakes with Bacon Sautéed Corn and Red Pepper Aioli

Crab Cakes:

2 pounds fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage

1 1/2 cups panko

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped chives

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice and zest of 1 lemon, plus more lemon wedges for serving

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. For the crab cakes: Gently fold together the crabmeat, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, chives, Dijon mustard, seafood seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and the juice and zest of one lemon in a large bowl. Refrigerate the crab mixture for 15 minutes to firm up; this allows the breadcrumbs to absorb some of the liquid, helping the crab cakes bind together.
3. Meanwhile, make the tartar sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, dill pickles, capers, chives, zest and juice of 1 lemon in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Scoop heaping half cups of the crab mixture and pat into 2 1/2-inch wide patties. Lightly press them together so they do not fall apart while cooking. You should have 8 patties.
5. Heat 3 tablespoons unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the crab cakes to the pan and cook until golden, about 2 minutes, then flip using a flat metal spatula. Continue to cook until lightly golden, about 1 1/2 minutes then transfer the pan to the oven. Cook until the crab cakes are completely heated through, about 10 minutes.

Bacon Sautéed Corn:

• 5 slices of bacon , diced
• 1 16 oz. bag of frozen white shoe peg corn, thawed

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Sauté corn in bacon dripping until soft, about 10 minutes.

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

• 2 whole roasted red peppers ( I used Jarred roasted red peppers)
• ⅔ cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and halved, or more to taste
• 1 ½ cups light mayonnaise (such as Hellmann’s® Light) 
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

Place roasted red peppers and basil in a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped and combined. Add lemon juice; pulse 3 times. Scatter garlic halves over mixture; pulse to chop, 4 to 5 times. Add mayonnaise and sugar; pulse until smooth, 5 to 7 times. Season with salt and pepper.

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Any dish with Provençal in the title stirs memories for me of sunny hill towns with French blue shuttered homes, lavender fields, and beach towns on the Mediterranean Sea. Vegetable gratins are a speciality of Provençal cookery. One of the first American ex-pats to embrace living and cooking in Provence was Richard Olney. In his 1974 book Simple French Food, he included many zucchini recipes and several gratins.

The recipe I am including today came from Ina Garten but it was inspired by Richard Olney. According to Ina, “Richard Olney was a curmudgeonly but extraordinary cook who wrote about Provençal cooking at the same time Julia Child was teaching Americans how to make classic French dishes.”

I would love to be at a table in Provence enjoying this special gratin, but since I can’t be there, I will enjoy it here at home.

I didn’t expect how complex the flavors would be in this dish. I consider zucchini to be quite bland, but Ina has a way of bringing out flavor that is amazing. This Provençal Zucchini Gratin was delicious.

Provençal Zucchini Gratin

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus extra for the dish
• 1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced crosswise
• 2½ pounds small zucchini, sliced ½ inch thick crosswise
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¾ cup ground fresh bread crumbs from a boule, crusts removed – I used a good sourdough bread to make the crumbs.
• ¾ cup grated Gruyère cheese (2 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Butter an 8 × 10-inch oval gratin dish.

In a medium (10 to 11-inch) pot or Dutch oven, heat 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the zucchini and 2 teaspoons salt, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes, until the zucchini is tender but not falling apart.

Sprinkle the zucchini mixture with the flour and stir gently. Raise the heat to medium-high and slowly add the half-and-half, allowing each addition to come to a boil while you’re adding it. Off the heat, stir in the thyme, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and lightly flatten the top. Combine the bread crumbs and Gruyère in a small bowl and sprinkle on top. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in small dice and sprinkle on top. Bake for 20 minutes, until the top is browned and the gratin is bubbly.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes and serve hot or warm.

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I received Ina Garten’s new cookbook, Modern Comfort Food, for Christmas. This is an updated, perhaps you could call it modern, version of split pea soup. What makes it different is the crispy kielbasa sausage that is added to it.

With leeks, onions, carrots and a ham hock it rocks with flavor. Ina has a way of bringing out the maximum flavor in her recipes.

We are in Florida. It has been cool so far. Therefore this split pea soup is a welcome meal and makes us feel warm and healthy. We also were able to get our Covid vaccines. Looking forward to a better year.

Split Pea Soup with Crispy Kielbasa

• 6 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white and green parts (2)
• 2 cups (½-inch) diced carrots (3 large)
• 1½ cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 1 lb dried green split peas
• 8 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 8 fresh thyme sprigs, tied with kitchen twine
• 2 large fresh bay leaves
• 12 oz smoked kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced diagonally into ¼-inch-thick pieces
• Minced fresh parsley, for garnish

Heat 1/4 cup (50 mL) olive oil in a large (11 to 12-inch/28 to 30-cm) pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, over medium-high heat. Add the leeks, onion and carrots and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and starting to brown.

Stir in the garlic and cook for one minute. Stir in the peas to coat with oil and cook for one minute. Add 8 cups (2 L) of the chicken stock, 2 cups (500 mL) water, the ham hock, thyme bundle, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons (10 mL) salt and 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 1 1/4 hours, stirring occasionally, until the peas are very tender and falling apart. After 45 minutes, stir more frequently, scraping the bottom of the pot to be sure the soup doesn’t burn.

Discard the thyme bundle, bay leaves and ham hock. Transfer 2 cups (500 mL) of the soup to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and purée. Return the purée to the pot, adding more chicken stock or water if the soup is too thick.

To serve, heat 2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil in a medium (10-inch/25-cm) sauté pan over medium heat. Add the kielbasa and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the kielbasa is browned. Serve the soup hot with the kielbasa and parsley sprinkled on top.

Serves: 6

Make ahead: Reheat the soup over low heat, adding chicken stock or water to thin.

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Baking Bread. It is a wonderful thing to do when the world seems out of control. We are living in fraught times. Kneading bread and smelling the baking loaves does much to quiet the troubled soul.

One of the things I was gifted with during Christmas was sourdough starter from my cooking-enthused Daughter-in-Law, Kristen. She has been baking bread for several months now and developed the starter from one of the best French bakeries in Cary, La Farm Bakery. I receive catalogs from King Arthur Flour and saw this recipe in their Christmas publication. It sounded unusual and a good recipe for my sourdough starter. They also featured a Bread Baking Bowl that is the perfect vessel in which to bake it.

It makes a hearty loaf studded with sweet cranberries.

I have since made a simple Honey Wheat Bread. I have a feeling there will be lots of bread baking in my immediate future. Stay safe, healthy and sane during these perilous times.

Wild Rice, Cranberry, and Cornmeal Sourdough Bread

• 1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) sourdough starter
• 1 cup (227g) lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast, optional; to ensure rise if your starter isn’t very active
• 1 cup (138g) cornmeal, whole-grain preferred
• 1 cup (113g) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup (120g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 cup (164g) cooked wild rice
• 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
• 1 cup (113g) dried cranberries

1. In a large bowl, combine the starter, water, yeast, cornmeal, and flours. Mix and knead for 5 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
2. Knead in the cooked wild rice, salt, and dried cranberries. Knead by hand for 6 minutes, or for about 3 minutes using a stand mixer. Or place in a bread machine programmed to the dough cycle. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes (or let the bread machine finish its cycle).
3. Turn the dough out and fold it in thirds. Return it to its container, cover, and let rest for 20 minutes.
4. Shape the dough into a round or oval and place, seam side up, in a basket or bowl lined with a damp tea towel heavily sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours; or cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. One hour before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven (with a baking stone on the middle rack, if you have a stone) to 475°F. If the dough was chilled overnight, take it out of the refrigerator before turning the oven on. Set up a shallow, stovetop-to-oven pan or skillet with 1″ of water in it.
6. When the dough looks puffy (it won’t necessarily double in size), bring the pan of water to a simmer on the stove and place it in the oven below the baking stone. Turn the loaf out of the towel onto a piece of parchment on a peel (or onto a baking sheet, if you’re not using a stone). Slash the top from end to end, 1/2″ deep, with a sharp knife. Slide the dough and parchment onto the stone. If you have a spray bottle, spritz the inside of the oven 5 or 6 times before closing the door.
7. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, until deep golden brown all over, and the center measures 195°F or higher when tested with a digital thermometer. The bottom will sound hollow when thumped.
8. Remove the bread from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing.
9. Store the bread, tightly wrapped in plastic, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

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