Quiche - need to impress

[Gillian76]

Am making a quiche for salad lunchy do on Sunday.

Have never managed to get it quite right. Often have a soggy or crumbly base.

Any tips, or should I forget it?

Buy one, take it out of the packet (not forgetting to stuff in a carrier bag at the bottom of the dustbin) and bask in the glory..oh and find a recipe to wave about in the manner of "oh yes, it's a jamie/nigella or good old delia".

Baking blind will help with soggy base.
You need greaseproof paper and some baking beads to do this best but I think you can achieve a similar effect without them (sorry, am pastry refusenik at home but dh always bakes blind)
It basically means you give the pastry case a quick blast in the oven before adding the filling

You can bake blind with anything that will weight down the paper like rice or dried chick peas too.

Agree with Marina re baking blind first. In addition I normally egg wash teh base once it has been baked blind then pop it back into the oven for a couple of minutes until it has sealed the pastry.

Then add the filling and bake as usual.

I have to say that quiche is quite hard to get right - I've given up and usually do a savory tart instead - perhaps tomato and goats chees, or florentine.

I have a ceramic dish. Do you think metal would be better?

And I actually do have baking beads.

What do you mean by savoury tart, soapbox? What's the difference?

Doh! I sat there thinking - we don't always use baking beads, we use something else, thank you fox for reminding me...
Dh's piece de resistance is a Josceline Dimbleby tart with flaked smoked haddock, king prawns and avocado in a creamy egg base. It really is LUSCIOUS...

Not using an egg custard as in a classic quiche lorraine, I think Gillian!

make sure the pastry is good and rich
this will make it crispier
blind bake first then bake again with the filling
pastry:
4oz flour
3oz cold bitter
1 egg yolk
a little water
rub cubed cold butter into the flour
mix the egg yolk with a little water and bind to a dry dough( you won't need it all)
rest for 15 mins in fridge
rollout and line tin or flan case
cover with greasproof paper and fill with baking beans
bake at 180 for 20 mins
remove beans and greasproff
brush base with egg yolk and water mix that is left and bake for another 10 mins

sory bitter=butter

Marina, that sounds delicious. Could you post the recipe please if you have time over the weekend?

Hi Gillian - IMHO you will always get soggy pastry with a ceramic dish, however much baking blind you do!

I really would recommend metal (much cheaper too!) + baking blind for best results.

recipe for oxocube (hope your quiche turned out ok gillian!)

Mariners' Tart (Josceline Dimbleby)

For the pastry
225g plain flour
100g butter or margarine
50g lard (or other white fat, dh uses Flora I think)
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon cold water
good pinch of salt

For the filling
275g undyed smoked cod (you can use haddock)
2 tablesppons olive or sunflower oil
50g peeled prawns (plus a couple unpeeled for garnish and we usually use king prawns)
1 large avocado
1 teaspoom ground mace
1 clove of garlic
300 ml double cream
1 egg, lightly
Juice of half a lemon
Salt & black pepper

To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Cut the butter or margarine and lard/white fat into the flour and rub in lightly with your fingertips until the mixture is crumb-like. Mix in the beaten egg and the cold water with a knife. Gather up into a ball and roll out.
Butter a 10-11 inch shallow flan dish (preferably the aluminium type with a push-out base) and line the dish with the pastry, trimming the edges. Refrigerate the pastry-lined dish for at least 30 mins.
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6 (400 degrees F/200 degrees C). To bake the tart blind put a piece of foil across the pastry and weight it down all over with dried beans or rice. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 mins. When cooked leave it to cool.
To prepare the filling, cut the fish into 1 inch pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan and stir the fish over a gentle heat for 7-8 mins. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add all the peeled prawns. Cut the avocado in half, peel and put into thin slices across and add to the mixture. Stir in the mace and garlic.
Whip the cream until beginning to thicken, add the egg, lemon juice and seasoning, and continue whipping until thick. Then stir in the cooled fish micture.
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 5 (375 F/190 C). Pour the creamy mixture into the pastry case and put in the centre of the oven for 15-200 minutes. Leave to cool and then garnish with the unpeeled prawns. The tart should be served cold but not refrigerated (we just leave it and serve after about 20 mins).

Thanks a million, Marina. Can't wait to try it!

Quiche was rather good. Did roasted veggies and gruyere cheese. Went down a treat