Quiche: no longer a vestige of 70s naffness

A CLASSIC quiche is no longer a vestige of 70s naffness.

Some foods did have an aura around them during my childhood – and even today I can’t help setting them aside in my mind as “fancy foods’’, to be saved for a special occasion.

Quiche is one of those meals, but unlike other foods – Chicken Kiev, frozen Arctic Roll or a banana boat for two – whose appeal has slipped away with their novelty, quiche always feels like a dish to be celebrated more.

There are the traditional ones rich with cheese and eggs which were taken on a family picnic to Bolton Abbey in the summer holidays, being robust enough to survive the car journey; the other variety, so light that they tremble on your fork at a posh do.

Stop thinking of quiche as a tart, but as a baked custard in a pastry shell, and you’re halfway to an amazing meal on a river bank.

Quiche has seen a great boom in the lockdown adventures.

Made correctly with loving care, quiche is a thing of beauty, but its reputation can be bruised by indigestible shop-bought offerings, or as I put it, utterly lifeless soggy matter.

So let’s look at the path to a rich yet light custard first, that holds just so. It starts with a change of mindset. I understood quiche a lot better once I stopped thinking of it as a tart in which the ingredients are bound together by egg and then started thinking of it as nice simple meal.

There’s no where to hide when it comes to custard, however, and its success comes down to dairy. Most of us have forgotten how good cream is, with low-fat resulting in a rubbery and watery bite. With the filling, depending on what you have at hand, you could add cooked asparagus, potatoes, spinach, ham or bacon and not forgetting the cheddar cheese. It’s a great vehicle for whatever’s in the fridge that needs cheering-up.

To achieve a wonderful wobble, use a flan or tart tin and don’t bother to blind-bake the case. It’s a matter of taste here and those of you wanting to stand on safer ground, buy a pack of ready-made pastry and bake your quiche till puffed up and golden.

A quiche deserves to be surrounded by beans and chips and an ideal companion is to watch a good film on the sofa. And ‘tart as you mean to go on’, as we don’t have a Marks & Spencer in town to fall back on any more.

RECIPE

BACON, EGG AND CHEDDAR CHEESE QUICHE

Ingredients:

175g / 6oz shortcrust pastry

2 eggs, beaten

1 onion, chopped

4-5 rashers of bacon of choice

125g English mature cheddar cheese

250ml / 9oz milk or double cream

Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Roll out the pastry to line an 8 inch / 21cm flan dish, then place in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filling.

2. Beat the eggs and add the milk and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Remove the rind from the bacon, cut into strips and fry lightly.

4. Add the onions to the pan and fry until soft but not brown.

5. Allow the bacon and onions to cool before mixing them with the cheese, then scatter over the base of the flan.

6. Pour the egg mixture over and bake in a preheated oven 200C / Gas Mark 6 for around 35 minutes or till the custard has set with a nice wobble and golden colour.