Recipe: Onion Quiche

My sister-in-law, Marie-Jose and I have had a friendly competition going for the last 30 years on who makes the best quiche. The sole and unique judge is, of course, Gerard, her brother and my husband. I have been on the losing side of this battle for all of these decades as I slavishly followed Cordon- Blue, Famous Chefs’ and even Julia Child’s recipes. This week I put my own twist on it, and got rave reviews from the judge- so I will lay the gauntlet down on the following (easy) recipe.

Ingredients:

One pie crust (You can make your own, but I find Pillsbury’s just as good for this recipe).

4 small-medium sized yellow onions finely sliced

¼ cup butter

½ lb bacon slab (you will discard almost all of the fat)

6 -8 slices of cooked bacon (precooked for microwave is fine)

3 eggs

½ cup of milk

½ cup of light cream

Directions:

Roll out the pie dough onto a 9” pyrex pie plate. Pierce with fork prongs in at least 6 spots. Freeze.

Pre heat oven to 400F.

Trim off almost all of the fat, and cut the remaining bacon first in slices and then dice into what the French call “lardons”.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onions until they are slightly golden and tender (do not allow to brown). Remove the onions and pat dry to remove excess fat.  Fry the lardons in the same pan. Dice the precooked bacon and add to the lardons. Put the onions back in with the bacon.

Beat the eggs with a fork and stir in milk, cream and the onion mixture. Add salt and coarse pepper.

Remove the pastry shell from the freezer and fill with the mixture. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375F and bake another 20-25 minutes until the filling is set and golden brown. Serve hot with a green salad. 

Scallops

Last week one of our readers (he signs his email as “Avid Reader”) wrote asking for a recipe for scallops, so I thought it would be a good idea for this week.  Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and relatively low in calories, scallops are an incredibly healthy and lean source of protein. The secret to preparing them is to never take your eyes off of them while they are cooking. When perfectly cooked they are succulent, juicy and plump- overcooked they become rubbery. You may use sea scallops or bay scallops in any recipe, but bay scallops are smaller and more delicate requiring much less cooking time.  Most fish shops discard the pink part (the reproductive organs) as we Americans are a bit prudish about that sort of thing, while the French, of course, consider it the best part!  Either way, here are two different recipes, both very easy and both very good!

Pan Seared Scallops

(For 4 people)

Ingredients

16 dry sea scallops (small side muscles removed)

2 teaspoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons olive oil

Coarse sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Rinse scallops with cold water and thoroughly pat dry. Salt and pepper both sides. Add the butter and oil to the pan on high heat. Once the fat begins to smoke, gently add the scallops, making sure they are not touching each other. Sear the scallops for 1 1/2 minutes until they form a golden crust on each side. Serve immediately.

Roasted Bacon Wrapped Scallops and Shrimp

(For 4 people)

Ingredients

12 large dry sea scallops, trimmed and well drained

12 jumbo raw peeled deveined shrimp, (16 to 20 count per pound)

12 slices center cut smoked bacon, each cut in half

¼ cup Lime juice

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon coarse salt

Pinch of Coarse black pepper

Toothpicks

3 scallions, very thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Place shrimp and scallops in a shallow dish or bowl. Salt and pepper each on both sides. Drizzle first lime juice and then sesame oil and turn each shrimp and scallop to coat each with the juices.  Wrap each shrimp and scallop with a half slice of bacon. Fasten bacon in place with picks. Arrange the scallops on a broiler pan with slots or on top of a grill on a pan to allow the bacon fat to drain while the bacon crisps up. Roast scallops for two full minutes and then add the wrapped shrimp to the pan and bake until shrimp is pink, scallops are opaque and bacon is crisp. Arrange on platter and sprinkle with chopped scallions.

Lobster Salad / Lobster Rolls

Serve up this easy-to-make lobster salad on small pieces of toast with cocktails, on a salad plate or on a bun for the fabulous Maine mainstay—the Lobster Roll pictured here.

Ingredients

2 pounds fully cooked lobster meat, cooled and diced into small chunks and mixed with any meat you can pick from the carcass

6 stalks celery, rinsed, dried and finely diced

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

8 hot dog buns, lightly toasted (for the Lobster Rolls only)

For the mayonnaise:

1 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 egg yolk

Salt and pepper

1 cup peanut oil (or canola oil)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

      

Directions 

Make the mayonnaise: Place mustard and egg yolk in the bottom of a small bowl. Whisk. Add salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle a little oil into egg-yolk mixture, whisking briskly. As the sauce thickens and lightens, it is emulsifying. Continue to whisk as you slowly drizzle the rest of the oil into the mixture. It should become thick and fluffy, holding its own shape. Whisk in vinegar. 

Combine the lobster, celery and some of the mayonnaise. As you mix, add mayonnaise until it reaches your desired consistency. (Some people like it with a great deal of mayonnaise; I prefer to have the lobster dominate the flavor and have just enough mayonnaise to bond the pieces together). Season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Toast and fill the buns with the lobster salad. Serve with French fries or potato chips. 

Marinated Roasted Red Peppers

The first time Chef Christian Delouvrier came to our home for a meal, he complimented me on my marinated roasted red peppers. I proudly gave all of the credit to my mother-in-law, Loulou, who taught me the following easy recipe.

Ingredients

Red bell peppers

Salt and black pepper

Olive oil (one for the marinade and first-cold-press extra-virgin for the sauce)

Garlic

Red wine vinegar

Directions

Choose plump, deep-red colored, unblemished fresh bell peppers. You may also add a few orange and/or yellow bell peppers for color. Wash the peppers with cold water and make sure all labels are scraped off. Wrap aluminum foil around the grill that goes in your oven (to avoid a cleanup mess).

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place the washed and dried peppers in the oven and allow to slow roast for 45–60 minutes, depending on the sizes of the peppers. When they are ready, the skin will puff up and disengage from the meat of the fruit. Place them in a paper bag or a bowl covered with a plate or plastic wrap. The steam from the peppers will condense and help facilitate peeling. Do not peek or let the steam out. When the peppers are cooled, make a slit down the length of the pepper, cutting through only the top skin, and peel the skin away. (This should be very easy.) Cut off the stem and dispose of it. On a cutting board, open up the rest of the pepper like a book lying flat. Scrape all of the seeds away from the inside of the pepper. Salt and pepper each side. Slice the peppers into large strips (2–3 inches wide) and marinate in a good olive oil with slivers of garlic (optional) for at least four hours, or up to five days. 

An hour before serving, remove from the marinade and place into a serving dish. Mix some fresh extra-virgin, first-cold-press olive oil with two crushed garlic cloves (optional), salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of fine red wine vinegar. Pour over the peppers. Serve with really good bread as an appetizer, or use the strips of peppers to garnish avocados or fresh mozzarella.

Gerard suggests a nice French rose wine with this dish.

Barbeued Beef Short Ribs As taught to me by Christian DELOUVRIER

I use large beef ribs which when the bone is removed could each be cut into two or three nice pieces - 1.5 to 2 inches thick. 20 ribs are enough for 20 people if they are the only main course, or for up to 50 people if served with other proteins. If the ribs are shorter, count one or two per person. The sauce recipe is enough to make ribs for 20-50 people.

48 hours in advance

Place meat in a large pot (or pots) covered with cold salted water. Bring to a boil. Skim off the impurities that come out of the beef as it boils. Add a glass of cold water and bring back to boil. Skim again. If needed add more water and skim a third time.

Add the following vegetables to each pot along with a beef boullion cube.

·    2 leeks

·    2 carrots

·    1 onion

·    1 head of garlic

·    1 tomato

Allow to simmer until done. It is impossible to tell you exactly how long to cook the ribs, because it depends upon the size of your ribs – but it will take at least an hour and a half and perhaps up to 3 hours…you can tell they are done as soon as a sharp knife can pierce the meat without any resistance…try not to overcook.

Allow the ribs to cool in the pot(s) with liquid. When cooled down, remove the meat without discarding the liquid. If the bones slide right out - fine throw them away. Place the meat in a container that can fit in the refrigerator. Strain the liquid and pour it over the ribs so that they covered with the liquid. Cover with plastic or aluminum foil and refrigerate until the morning of the Barbecue.

The day of the Barbecue (at least 3 hours before cook time)
Three hours before barbecuing take meat out of liquid. (strain and freeze liquid to use as stock). Take off all excess fat, trim off the membranes and remove any bones (this should be very easy) and place the meat in the following marinade.

Make the Marinade & Barbecue Sauce by mixing all of the following ingredients.

·    3.5 lbs Heinz Ketchup

·    30 fluid oz of LaChoy Soy Sauce (plain)

·    2.25 lbs. Honey

·    A1 Steak Sauce-(888ml bottle)

·    15 oz. Dijon Mustard

·    15 Pieces of Garlic

·    Salt & Pepper

When grill is ready, about 10 minutes before serving the meat, place sheets of aluminum foil on the grill and place the meat on the aluminum foil. It will heat up and even get a bit grilled. If needed baste with the marinade/bbq sauce.

Serve hot. 

Braised Stuffed Quail

Many of my recipes are much easier than they look. This is not one of them. If you are not into cooking, including stuffing birds- do not try this one.

8 quails (Semi Boneless from Dartagnan.com)

1 package Park’s pork sausage meat (defrosted)

½ cup of plain bread crumbs (soaked in about the same amount of water)

1 onion chopped and sautéed in butter

1 egg

2 tablespoons of chopped parsley

6 carrots (peeled and cut once lengthwise and twice horizontally)

3 leeks (Greens trimmed off, whites cleaned and cut once lengthwise)

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup white wine

2 tablespoons of olive oil.

2 pats of butter

To Make the Stuffing

Combine sausage meat, sautéed onions, soaked bread crumbs, parsley and the eggs to produce an even mixture. Stuff the mixture into the breast of the quail and sew up the openings so stuffing does not escape during cooking. Tie the legs together with butcher’s string.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat the oil and butter together in a large low skillet. Over a medium flame, brown the stuffed birds on all sides and remove. Toss the leeks and carrots in the remaining butter and oil and spread them out. Place the browned birds on top of the vegetables and add enough chicken stock to cover the vegetables. Cover and braise in the oven for about 45 minutes.

When done, Take out the vegetables and birds and keep warm. Pour out the stock. Add the cup of wine to the bottom of the skillet, scraping the surface to release the cooked juices. Slowly add the cooking liquid back into the wine and reduce to make a sauce. If needed you may add a bit more chicken stock, and a teaspoon of arrowroot or cornstarch mixed with a tablespoon of hot liquid to thicken. Spoon some of the sauce over the quails and put the rest in a gravy boat.

Serve with pasta, rice, Israeli couscous or mashed potatoes.

Roasted Strawberries

So easy, I am almost embarrassed to tell you that Daniel Boulud taught me to make this dessert- maybe 20 years ago. It is still one of our favorites. And I make it in many variations.

For three people- multiply as needed

1 lb of strawberries (cleaned, cut in half (or quarters of large)

2 pats of sweet butter

1 tablespoon of sugar

Optional: Mint leaves.

Ice cream (strawberry, vanilla, and/or strawberry sorbet)

Before guests arrive prepare strawberries and mix in an oven proof roasting pan with sugar and butter.

Pre heat oven to 350F

Just before serving the main course, place pan in the oven. (It should roast for about half an hour)

Serve warm over ice cream. Add a mint leaf to each dish.

(When I want to be really fancy, earlier in the day I place layers of ice cream and sorbet in glasses and freeze leaving room on top for the hot roasted strawberries.)

How to Grill Steak

Grilling is a high-heat cooking method done directly over live flames, cooking food in a matter of minutes. A few tips will make your grilled steaks perfectly delicious.

1/ Preheat grill—Make it very hot.
When using charcoal, let it burn until it is covered with a thin coat of gray ash. Hold your hand about 6 inches above the grate.  If after three seconds you are forced to pull your hand away, the fire is ready. The grill must be very hot to properly sear the meat, create a crusty surface, and caramelize the natural sugars to produce that steak flavor we love.

2/.Have the meat at room temperature.
Take the steak out of the fridge an hour before cooking so it is no longer cold inside when you are ready to grill it. If you don’t, the steak will toughen and still be cold in the middle when done on the outside—or just overcooked through and through.

3/ Lubricate the meat, not the grill.
Lightly rub the steak with oil and then liberally season with salt and black pepper on both sides. The salt will bring some of the meat's juices to the surface and help to form the brown crust that is a sign of good grilling. 
4/ Use tongs, not forks.

Do not use utensils that stab the meat and let the precious juices run out. Tongs enable you to move and turn the meat without puncturing it.
5/. Cook it fast and get it off the grill.
The real secret to a juicy steak is to get it cooked fast and then off the grill the second it's done. Letting a steak sit on a grill too long will dry out the meat. Place the steaks on the grill and cook until golden brown and slightly charred, turn over and continue to grill for the amount of time indicated below.

Steak Thickness	Cooked	First Side	Second Side	Internal Temperature
1″	Rare Medium–Rare Medium Medium–Well Well done	5 minutes 5 minutes 6 minutes 7 minutes 8 minutes	3 minutes 4 minutes 4 minutes 5 minutes 6 minutes	125°F 135°F 145°F 155°F 165°F
1¼″	Rare Medium–Rare Medium Medium–Well Well done	5 minutes 6 minutes 7 minutes 8 minutes 9 minutes	4 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes 6 minutes 7 minutes	125°F 135°F 145°F 155°F 165°F
1 ½″	Rare Medium–Rare Medium Medium–Well Well done	6 minutes 7 minutes 7 minutes 8 minutes 10 minutes	4 minutes 5 minutes 6 minutes 7 minutes 8 minutes	125°F 135°F 145°F 155°F 165°F
1 ¾″	Rare Medium–Rare Medium Medium–Well Well done	7 minutes 8 minutes 8 minutes 10 minutes 11 minutes	5 minutes 6 minutes 7 minutes 8 minutes 9 minutes	125°F 135°F 145°F 155°F 165°F

Moules Marinierres

Our French chef friends have taught us this simple way to make this wonderful dish which we use to start off most of our gourmet barbecues. One year, the 4 star chef, Christian Delouvrier, used the two bottles of Grand Cru Chablis (that Gerard had stashed away to serve the chefs with the fish course) to make the sauce. Everyone thought they were the best muscles they ever had. When we found out why, we decided the recipe with the ordinary Chablis was good enough!

One 5 lb bag of mussels (alive)

½ shallot (chopped)

½ lb Butter

½ pint heavy cream

½ bottle of Chablis
½ cup of chopped parsley

Clean the mussels by washing under plenty of cold running water. Discard any open ones that won't close when lightly squeezed. If you see any, pull out any tough, fibrous beards protruding from between the tightly closed shells and knock off any barnacles with a large knife. Give the mussels another quick rinse.

Boil wine, shallots & butter together in a large pot. 

Once boiling rigorously, add the cleaned mussels and cover for one minute. Mix mussels so all get covered with the boiling wine.

Remove mussels and place on a platter.

Reduce sauce for about 5 minutes.

Add cream.

Reduce sauce another 5 minutes.

Put mussels back in, mix and serve. Scatter some parsley over each serving..

Sauteed Mushrooms

Great as a side dish to any roast or broiled meat, or as a main course over polenta or rice. 

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

2 pounds of fresh mushrooms (any combination: shiitake, cremini, button, porcini, etc)

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

4 shallots chopped

½ cup of olive oil

4 tablespoons of butter

1 cup chopped fresh parsley (preferably flat)

Salt, pepper

Directions

Brush the caps of each mushroom with a clean sponge. Remove and discard the stems. Slice the small mushrooms thickly and cut the large ones into chunks (so they are all approximately the same size.) Add the shallots and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until the shallots are translucent. Add the butter, mushrooms, salt, and pepper and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, until they are tender and begin to release their juices, stirring often. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Toss in the parsley, sprinkle with more salt, and serve warm.