To fuck or to cook?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I have a hankering for homemade quiche but no inspiring recipes in my cookbooks at home. Any ideas?

6 eggs,
1/2 cup cream
two leeks, sweated
4 oz. diced ham or bacon
4 oz. gruyere cheese
tsp. chopped cive
1/2 tsp. chopped tarragon
salt and white pepper to taste

Slam it in a pie crust and bake at 350 till set.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I don't know why I didn't think of this, because I'm not even that fond of pie crust, and I have the loveliest baking dishes for this purpose.

Does gouda taste good with bacon?

Smoked gouda is great with bacon. Or regular gouda with pancetta.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
For those who require crust, you can always stick a piece of bread in the bottom of the baking dish.

And gouda tastes good with everything.

Pour your egg mixture over bread and let it sit overnight before baking and it's called strata, which is the best thing for brunch since the bloody mary.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
For those who require crust, you can always stick a piece of bread in the bottom of the baking dish.

And gouda tastes good with everything.

And bacon tastes good with everything. So truly gouda and bacon must be another two great tastes that taste great together.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
And bacon tastes good with everything. So truly gouda and bacon must be another two great tastes that taste great together.

That's what I suspected, but I was concerned they might compete with one another.

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by taxwonk
6 eggs,
1/2 cup cream
two leeks, sweated
4 oz. diced ham or bacon
4 oz. gruyere cheese
tsp. chopped cive
1/2 tsp. chopped tarragon
salt and white pepper to taste

Slam it in a pie crust and bake at 350 till set.

This is basically what I do, except I use a deep-dish pie pan, so need 1.5 C of half and half (or cream, but half and half works just fine). I use (more or less) the pie crust and quiche recipes from the Bittman. Sunday I made one with a half pound of asparagus, blanched for 15 seconds and shocked in cold water, and a half-pound of Copper River sockeye cut into one-inch cubes. And 4 oz. finely grated gruyere, as above. And I've been baking at 325, but I'm thinking about bumping it up a tad. The pie crust should be about half-baked before you put anything else in it, too. If you need more details, PM me.

tm

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by tmdiva
This is basically what I do, except I use a deep-dish pie pan, so need 1.5 C of half and half (or cream, but half and half works just fine). I use (more or less) the pie crust and quiche recipes from the Bittman. Sunday I made one with a half pound of asparagus, blanched for 15 seconds and shocked in cold water, and a half-pound of Copper River sockeye cut into one-inch cubes. And 4 oz. finely grated gruyere, as above. And I've been baking at 325, but I'm thinking about bumping it up a tad. The pie crust should be about half-baked before you put anything else in it, too. If you need more details, PM me.

tm

In my oven, I need to go 350 or the crust turns to mush before the egg sets, even if it's fully blind-baked. The salmon sounds good. Do you pre-cook or put it in raw?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
That's what I suspected, but I was concerned they might compete with one another.

Bacon works well with smoked gouda. If the gouda isn't smoked, the bacon tends to overwhelm, that's why I recommend pancetta. I try to mix smoked with smoked, unless i want the cheese to be merely a background note.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
That's what I suspected, but I was concerned they might compete with one another.

They may compete, but in a good way. Like two cheerleaders over the star quarterback.

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by taxwonk
In my oven, I need to go 350 or the crust turns to mush before the egg sets, even if it's fully blind-baked. The salmon sounds good. Do you pre-cook or put it in raw?

I've done it both ways--it depends on whether I'm working with virgin fish or leftovers. I think using raw tends to lengthen the cooking time, but it certainly makes it easier than poaching the fish first.

I think sockeye is particularly well-suited to quiche because it tends to be drier than chinook or (farm-raised) Atlantic.

tm

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by tmdiva
(farm-raised) Atlantic.

tm

Nothing to do with quiche, but is farm-raised atlantic salmon even worth eating? I stopped bothering a couple of years ago--it struck me that I might as well be eating tuna. Or cod.

[Paisley]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Nothing to do with quiche, but is farm-raised atlantic salmon even worth eating? I stopped bothering a couple of years ago--it struck me that I might as well be eating tuna. Or cod.

How can you even ask this question during Copper River season?

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Paisley
How can you even ask this question during Copper River season?

It crystalizes the point in my mind.

[Oliver_Wendell_Ramone]

Originally posted by Paisley
How can you even ask this question during Copper River season?

The Copper River fishermen are amazing marketers. The fish is good, but man. I suppose the difference is more pronounced in ares where you don't have semi-regular access to really good local salmon.

On the farmed fish topic, it's pretty much unacceptable from an environmental standpoint. That said, it can taste good. Really depends on the "farm." There's a little seafood shop near our beach house (I'm rich, bitches); when it's available, they have the best salmon ever, pretty close to right off the boat. But they also have a really good supplier for non-local stuff (the best shrimp I've had away from the Gulf), who gets farmed stuff from BC that is pretty dang good. Compliments a good Oregon pinot, anyway.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Oliver_Wendell_Ramone
The Copper River fishermen are amazing marketers. The fish is good, but man. I suppose the difference is more pronounced in ares where you don't have semi-regular access to really good local salmon.

On the farmed fish topic, it's pretty much unacceptable from an environmental standpoint. That said, it can taste good. Really depends on the "farm." There's a little seafood shop near our beach house (I'm rich, bitches); when it's available, they have the best salmon ever, pretty close to right off the boat. But they also have a really good supplier for non-local stuff (the best shrimp I've had away from the Gulf), who gets farmed stuff from BC that is pretty dang good. Compliments a good Oregon pinot, anyway.

Why would farmed be bad from an environmental standpoint? Do salmon farms (whatever that means) produce waste like hog farms do? Or are they ruining existing ecosystems?