Onion Cheese Quiche

Its depressing when the cakes you bake or the sweets you always prepare for the children doesnt appeal to them anymore. I guess they must be bored with the same stuff mummy makes. Enough of sweet desserts I believe, so I decided to make savoury tart for tea one afternoon. It was worth the effort and it was really nice to see them eat and fighting for more. Just finished baking onion cheese quiche again so they could bring to school for their lunch tomorrow. Safe me the hassle of preparing their lunch box in the morning.



Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients:

(For filling)
25gm butter
1 large bombay onion
3 large eggs
50ml cream
150ml milk
70 gm turkey bacon or beef salami (cut into small pieces)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
100 gm grated cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley

(For Pastry)
200 gm plain flour
100gm butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon cold water


Method:

To make pastry

1. Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until it becomes breadcrumbs. Add water and mix to a firm dough. Add more water if required. Knead until it become a smooth dough.
2. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
3. Roll dough on lightly floured surface and use a 23 cm pie tin (loose based pan).
4. Press the pastry firmly to the sides and base of tin. Use a fork to prick the pastry all over. Use a rolling pin to trim the excess pastry.
5. Cover with aluminium foil and put in the freezer for 15 mins.
6. Preheat oven to 200c and blind bake the tart for 15 minutes. Remove the blind beans and foil and continue to bake for another 5 minutes.
7. Remove the tart from the oven and reduce the temperature to 180C.
8. Spread the onion mixture, sprinkle with shredded cheese and pour the milk mixture and bake for 35 minutes or until the filling set.
9. Let cool before removing from the pie tin. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

To make the filling:-

1. Heat butter in a pan and saute the onion until the onion become soft, add the turkey bacon and saute for a couple minutes more. Remove from fire and let cool.
2. Beat the eggs, cream and milk in a bowl. Add the nutmeg and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Note: You can omit the turkey bacon or beef salami to make a vegetarian quiche. I have tried putting cod fish into the mixture and it taste equally good too. Its up to your own creativity and personal taste....happy trying!!

Pineapple Tarts

I first make pineapple tarts when I was small...helping out Mak in the kitchen each year for Hari Raya until I could do it myself when I was 12. Since then, it has been my chore to prepare cookies for Raya. I still remember those days, kena parut nenas tu dan masak jem atas dapur minyak tanah and berjam-jam lamanya....mana nak jaga api lagi....aduh mak. Really, at that time it was really hard to make cookies unlike nowadays. Those days we dont have electric oven not even gas oven. We only used a small oven using kerosene stove. The tray that could go into the oven perhaps could only bake 10-12 pieces of cookies....can you imagine how long it will take to finish baking a kilo of dough....

When I was 16, my anties started asking me to make tarts for them, by this time my mom already bought a gas oven for our home...and at that time hmmm....got money coming in for duit raya and before I started my own family that's part of my ritual during fasting months...to prepare raya cookies for my family members.



ni tart yang kawan-kawan kat sini order for raya this year.

Here's the recipe:-

Pastry

1kg flour
550 gm butter
3 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
1 teaspoon caster sugar (optional)
cold water

Method:-

1. Sieve flour, salt and sugar together.
2. Using a butter knife, cut the butter into the flour, then rub the butter until it becomes bread crumb using your fingers.
3. Add egg yolk and mix well.
4. Add cold water bit by bit and make a dough.
5. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes before rolling and cutting.

Pineapple Jam

3 bowls grated pineapple
1 bowl sugar (as you like - adjust to your taste)
a pinch of salt
4-5 clover (optional)
1-2 drops of yellow colouring (optional)


Method:

1. In a wok, put everything together under medium flame.
2. Stir every few minutes until it becomes thicken and all the water evaporates.
Note: Of course you may add more sugar if you like your jam to be sweet and in case the pineapple is not so ripe and sour.