jalapeno, chorizo & gruyere quiche

Quiche is a beast. Mastering the quiche conundrum takes practice: collapsing tart shells, overcooked yolks, and gummy pastry dough are among the obstacles that you may encounter along the way. But, in my mind, a cooking or baking debacle is an exciting opportunity to draw on lessons learned to create a beautiful final product. After a few practice runs, I pulled a flaky, slightly golden tart shell out of the oven, filled it with a Spanish-inspired jalapeno and chorizo and gruyere mixture, and popped it back in the oven for a final round of heat. The results were scrumptious! 

Julia Child mastered the art of pastry dough a long time ago, and the tart shell recipe in this post comes from Julia's legendary The Way to Cook. Note that she recommends rolling out the dough onto a chilled French marble pastry slab. I couldn't agree more. The marble slab (a worthy investment - and it doubles as cheese board!) keeps the butter from warming which gives you more a malleable pastry dough. 

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recipe

for the tart shell:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup bleached cake flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 ounces chilled unsalted butter, diced
• 1/4 cup chilled vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup ice water

for the filling:

• 2 chorizo sausage links, casings removed
• 1/2 cup minced white onion
• 2 tsp finely-chopped sage leaves 
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 large brown eggs
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup freshly-grated gruyere cheese
• 1 jalapeno, sliced into thin rounds
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the flour and salt and diced butter in a food processor. Pulse about 5-7 times.
2. Add the vegetable shortening. Turn on the food processor and with the motor running, add the 1/2 cup of water right away, then turn it off. The butter and shortening should look like small peas by now. Pulse 2-3 more times if necessary to break up the butter into pea-sized clumps. Be sure you don't overmix!
3. Transfer the pastry dough to a lightly floured work surface. Working quickly, form the dough into a rough ball and then slice it in half with a butter knife. Form each portion of dough into a flat disk. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap and put them in a Ziplock bag. Refrigerate for a minimum of two hours.
4. To form the tart shell, quickly roll out one of the chilled disks on a lightly floured pastry marble or work surface. The dough should about about two inches larger than the diameter of your quiche pan.
5. Use a pastry cutter to loosen the dough from your work surface, then drape it over the quiche pan. Gently press the dough onto the bottom and sides of the quiche pan, ensuring it has a solid rim standing half an inch higher than the top of the pan.
6. Trim any excess dough that may be hanging over the sides of the pan. Use it to patch up the tart shell, if needed. Then, using a fork, prick the bottom of the tart shell until it is speckled with small holes.
7. Now, to make sure the tart shell maintains its structural integrity during the prebake, you'll need to weigh it down. Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil and fold it into a square (it should be a few inches larger than the circumference of the quiche pan). Butter one side of the foil and place it in the tart shell, butter-side down, then fill it with dried kidney beans (this is called a foil pouch).
8. Adjust oven rack to middle part of oven and preheat to 450°. Bake the tart shell for 15 minutes, then remove the pouch and bake for several minutes longer until the shell has achieved a pale golden hue. Transfer to a wire rack to allow the shell to cool for 15 minutes before adding the filling.
9. Preheat the oven to 375°.
10. To make the quiche filling, melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the onions. Cook until the onions are fragrant and translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the chorizo. Break it up into small chunks with a wood spoon and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stirring frequently, cook the meat until it has lost its pink hue and remove from heat. Add the sage and mix together.
11. Blend together the eggs and heavy cream and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pre-baked tart shell with the cheese; pour in the egg mixture; and then sprinkle with the chorizo bits and add the sliced jalapeno.
12. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust has browned and the filling wobbles slightly when you shake the quiche pan. Baking time will vary depending on factors like altitude and the temperature of your kitchen, so start checking after 20 minutes. If the crust hasn't browned at the 30-minute mark, then continue baking in 5-minute intervals until you've achieved that result. 

If you make this recipe, hashtag a pic to #spiceandhutch and post to Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. I'd love to see your culinary creations!

potage singhalese (chicken and curry soup)

I adapted this recipe from my treasured copy of the [now OOP] Cordon Bleu Cook Book by Dione Lucas. My dad gifted the cookbook to me a couple of years ago. I knew immediately that it was right up my alley: on the cover, under the author's name, an excerpt boldly states "the finest French recipes from the internationally famous Cordon Bleu restaurants and schools, adapted for American home cooking." I love it!

This potage singhalese is the crown jewel of Lucas' soup chapter. It is one of the best soups I have ever had. It's rich, creamy, spicy and vaugely sweet, and the South Asian and French flavors compliment each other nicely. The potage can be served hot or in small bowls encircled with ice. 

The recipe calls for a small apple. If you're using a granny smith, which tends to be less sweet and less juicy than most other apples, you'll want to add the optional 1/4 teaspoon of brown sugar to the potage. On the other hand, if using a sweeter apple like a pink lady, you'll probably want to omit the sugar. 

Most of our spice cabinets, including mine, are stocked with a generic curry powder that caters to Western pallets, like McCormick or Badia. Both brands make a decent product and are good starting points for building flavor. But, in the final stage, you'll likely want to add another 1/2 or more of the curry along with a pinch of the various spices in the recipe to really bring out the depth of flavor that makes this potage so delicious.

When building flavor, and especially when working with hot spices, remember that you can always add but you can't take away. As such, I do suggest adding the cayenne and pepper flakes in small increments. If you're using a medium or hot curry power like the UK-produced Sharwoods madras curry, then you'll definitely want to omit the cayenne and pepper flakes. Unless you're a heat junkie. In which case I say go for it.

Ok. Let's do this. I hope you enjoy this potage as much as I do!

recipe

• 3 tbsp "European-style" butter 
• 1 medium-sized yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp yellow curry powder
• 4 tbsp flour
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup fresh pea puree
• 3 cups chicken stock 
• 1 small cube chicken demi glace
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 pinch crushed cardamom seeds
• 1 pinch cumin
• 1 pinch turmeric
• 1 pinch paprika
• 6 ounces poached chicken breast, diced
• 1/4 tsp brown sugar (optional)
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 tsp Kosher salt

1. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom saucepan. Add the sliced onion and apple and cook over medium low heat until they become soft, about 5-6 minutes. Do not allow the ingredients to brown.
2. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the curry power. Gently stir to evenly coat the onion and apple with the powder and continue cooking on low heat for another five minutes.
3. Add the pea puree, the flour, salt, spices, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Gently stir once more to evenly distribute the ingredients over the onion and apple.
4. Stir in the chicken stock and demi glace. Add the bay leaf. Continue stirring for a minute, then bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Remove the mixture from heat once it starts boiling.
5. Set a food mill over a medium-sized bowl. If you're going to serve the potage cold, then place the medium bowl in a larger ice-filled mixing bowl. Run the ingredients through the mill until you've extracted all the juices.
6. Stir in the heavy cream, then add the diced chicken meat. Season to taste with salt and more of the spices.

If you make this recipe, hashtag a pic to #spiceandhutch and post to Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. I'd love to see your culinary creations!