Puff Pastry by Beth Hensperger

Method :
• Some families focus their culinary energies on Easter dinner, and some on a lovely breakfast or brunch.
• A savory, egg-rich quiche can star at any meal. Early in the day, it partners with fruit and coffee cake.
Later on, it's delicious with salad vinaigrette or marinated vegetables, a hunk of baguette and a cool, fruity
white wine.
• We take quiche for granted today, but it wasn't that long ago that it was considered exotic food. One
day in the bakery at St. Michael's Alley restaurant in Palo Alto, my baking guru and mentor Barbara Hiken
declared she was going to make some quiches to put on the lunch menu. I had never attempted to make one
on my own, so I was all eyes and ears.
• Out came 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, and
she proceeded to make not one but three of the recipe variations. As she cooked bacon and chopped
mushrooms, she punctuated the process with exclamations like 'Oh, how luscious,' 'Where are the 8 inch
removable bottom pans?' and 'The Roquefort one will be the best!'
• Ah, that smelly blue cheese on the salad station.
• I decided, without voicing my opinion, that the classical quiche Lorraine and the mushroom with Swiss
cheese would be my choices.
• As Barbara's piping hot rounds came out of the oven, I inspected the deliberately rough and naturallooking
puffed brown tops and uneven crusts. They weren't more than 1 1/2 inches deep. The first bites were
glorious. The Roquefort tart was amazingly delicate and sumptuous, thanks to the combination of blue cheese
and cream cheese. It became an instant favorite for special guests. I promptly marked the recipes in my copy
of 'Mastering,' where they are still prominent reminders of Barbara's quiches.
• When I traveled to France a few years later, quiche was a standard in the zinc bars where I ate late
lunches. And they were served for supper alongside a brothy goose liver soup at one of the homes I stayed
in. By the time I returned to the States, quiche had found its way out of tiny bistros and onto mainstream
restaurant menus geared toward vegetarian diners.
• The original quiche was an egg and cream mixture cooked in a bread dough-lined pan, the dough rolled
as thin as the crispier butter-rich short pastry crust is today. There has been a long-running dispute among
French culinary historians as to just who invented the lovely rustic tart. In Lorraine, it is studded with some
smoked bacon, a regional specialty. In neighboring Alsace, a flan aux oignons shows quiche with German
influences, made with a bread dough crust and slow-cooked onions (it can also be called a kuchen).
• Yes, quiche is rich, but it is not an everyday food. The savory custard can be made with milk instead of
cream, but the results are far less harmonious and the custard a bit more rubbery. It's best to use milk and
cream in combination, or with creme fraiche or sour cream.
• Making my own quiches at home, I experimented with all sorts of fillings. My favorites were a layering
of parcooked zucchini and a bit of basil; crab and chives; and lots of spinach and freshly grated nutmeg.
When I was short on time, I used a frozen pie crust or store-bought puff pastry; both are excellent
alternatives to your own pastry crust. I made my quiches thin, balancing the tender filling and flaky crust,
and I made them thick, with the emphasis on the golden, creamy filling.
• A classic quiche dish is a 9 1/2 inch shallow round. Made of white earthenware with straight sides, it is
designed to work best with bread-dough crusts. I prefer the French loose-bottomed, round tart pans with
fluted sides and shiny tinned finish. They come in both 9- and 11 inch diameters and with 1- and 2 inch high
sides (you can buy rectangular and square ones, too). The crust browns beautifully and to serve, you just slip
your hand underneath and push up; the outside ring falls down your forearm (be careful if it is hot). Then
you can easily slide the quiche onto a serving plate. A 9- or 10 inch pie pan is an acceptable alternative.
There are 4 inch fluted tin tartlet pans, usually used for fruit tarts, that make nice individual-sized quiche.
• Quiche is too good to save for holidays. Hot, it makes an appetizing Sunday night supper. Cool, it's a
welcome carry-along to a potluck or picnic. Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator.