Since I'm not feeling up to the challenge of Self-Portrait Tuesday today, I decided to channel my creative energy in the kitchen.
I made a quiche.
By now you're probably thinking I'm doing the Time Warp again. Memo pads from the 70s, bitchin' 80s earrings...when will the madness stop? I know: quiche is so 80s, so not for real men, so for yuppies who ate radicchio before radicchio got all ubiquitous on our asses.
Well, I love quiche, because it's warm and comforting, and it's a great way to clear out the fridge. Tonight's quiche ingredients were all fresh, however, and for the first time in months I didn't include vegetables. Stop your gasping! I'm going to accompany my meal with a nice salad made of frisée. (And anyway, this is France – quite possibly the only country that considers pasta to be a vegetable – so I figure I'm ahead of the game).
So what's in that thing I've got baking in the oven right now? Rondelé Garlic and Herb cheese; this is like Boursin, only it's cheaper. And cubes de jambon. And a little gruyère cheese to top it off. Pictures will follow. I wish my blog had added odorama, because it smells so good here right now.
I thought the egg looked cool when I cracked it into the milk and cheese mixture:
I almost forgot: the "recipe": 4 ounces/125g of Rondelé cheese. 2 cups/500 ml of milk. 4 eggs. Spoon the cheese into a mixing bowl. Add some milk and mix until the cheese is kind of liquefied. Add the eggs. Beat the mixture, then add the rest of the milk, then beat again. Pour into crust, top with grated cheese, and bake at 425°F/220°C until top is browned and the filling is set. Serve with salad. Yum.
That sounds so good. I'll give it a try.
I just made a meatloaf this afternoon, and the house smells marvelous. I do make one of the better meatloaves in the world.
And coming from me, that says a lot. I'm not a big meat eater. Especially beef.
Posted by: cassie-b | February 07, 2006 at 15:35
I'd kill for a slab of meatloaf right now.
Posted by: Allan | February 07, 2006 at 15:38
I love meatloaf!
Posted by: Susan | February 07, 2006 at 16:16
Yum...I love quiche too. Mozarella, plum tomatoes and fresh basil is a favorite of mine.
Posted by: misschrisc | February 07, 2006 at 16:16
Okay, I have to ask. Is grated cheese generic for any type of cheese in particular? Inquiring and hungry minds want to know.
Posted by: bhd | February 07, 2006 at 19:24
I used grated gruyère cheese, but I think any hard cheese that melts well, or that you can find pre-grated in a package, would work well. So cheddar, jack, swiss, mozzarella, or whatever you can find in the cheese aisle would work.
Of course, if you want to be a food snob, you can grate whatever cheese you want on your quiche. I used gruyère because it's sold already grated.
...or you can omit the cheese. But that's not very French.
Posted by: Alison | February 07, 2006 at 19:42
It sounds and looks delicious! Can you send me some over e-mail??
Posted by: Margaret | February 07, 2006 at 20:12
You need a scratch and sniff blog, that looks so good!
Posted by: Philip | February 07, 2006 at 20:21
I love quiche, and gruyere cheese! I'll have to look for the Rondele' cheese - I love Boursin cheese. I wonder - do you think I could make a quiche with herbed Brie?
I need to get cooking - darn, that looks so good!!
Posted by: Beth Donovan | February 07, 2006 at 21:12
ARGH!! Now I'm starving. One half hour more and I escape my late night radio job for a trip to the grocery store. Looks like I'll be picking up a quiche.
Oh, GAWD, that looks yummy. DAMN YOU, ALI!!
Posted by: Thesaurus Rex | February 07, 2006 at 23:24
That looks great!!! :) I wish I was a good cook.
Posted by: Connie (cj) | February 08, 2006 at 01:56
I was just coming round to see if you are all right, those great pictures tell me exactly what I wanted to know.
You are right about us French, not only do we consider pasta a vegetable, but also french fries :)
Posted by: Gracianne | February 08, 2006 at 05:37
mmmm...quiche. yum!
Posted by: steph | February 08, 2006 at 09:42
Quiche is too 80's?? Maybe I'm too young to realize that, cuz we eat it at least once a week (au thon, au poireaux, au lardons, etc) - it's the most versatile dish ever and so simple to make. And it tastes good to boot!
Posted by: samantha | February 08, 2006 at 11:06
Speaking as a man, I like quiche. Meatloaf? As a vegetarian, I'll pass ;-)
Posted by: Chris | February 08, 2006 at 11:09
What do you mean "quiche is so '80's!?!" Where was I during that period? (probably eating Hamburger Helper!)
I must have been quiche deprived as a child because it's a weekly staple in our house too, so 'I don't want to cook' dish!
I blogged it too, like you asked me to on the bried and sun dried tomatoes quiche.
And stop using words that take up a whole mouth of space... *lol*
You forgot to mention that the French also consider *rice* to be a vegetable.
Posted by: AnneCuisine | February 08, 2006 at 12:57
OK, comments from Anne and Sam got me wondering if I'd hallucinated my mother making quiche in the 80s. So I looked it up on Wikipedia: Quiche.
I guess I should have said 70s. I just remember that book coming out in the early 80s. Of course, my mom wasn't cutting edge or anything, so it may well have been the early 80s before she started making quiche. I remember you could buy ready-made egg custard in the dairy/egg section of the grocery store.
Posted by: Alison | February 08, 2006 at 13:08
et j'étais même pas invité ... c'est vraiment dégueulasse.
Posted by: Al1 | February 08, 2006 at 13:47