COOKS: Smoked Salmon and Spinach Quiche

Hello hello! 

It's been some time! There are so many recipes I want to share but most of the times I tend not to go with the given recipes strictly and it's quite a chore to note down all the different measurements.. I try I try. I doubt I would have gravitated towards making a smoked salmon quiche if not for the excessive amount of leftover smoked salmon in my fridge but I'm glad I gave it a go! Not regretting one bit, it was really tasty and filling as well so just a slice would be good enough for a hearty breakfast. 

Oh and when your quiche is done, remember not to be a 'kanchiong spider' (hasty) *lol* and take the quiche out of the pan while it's still very hot, the filling and the crust are probably still soft and haven't had time to set so it'll smoosh when you flip it onto a plate. And yes, I was a kanchiong spider so don't do what I did! Thankfully I was able to salvage it, you can see how my crust is all broken up in the last picture. You wouldn't want a smooshed quiche after all the hard work you put into it, I really wanted to punch myself in the head at that moment in time, so much. 

My references!

☞ Pie Dough

☞ Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Goat Cheese Quiche

I failed at pie dough before so I stuck to the recipe reaaaaal close for this. I think it turned out pretty well though! I never knew I had a food processor in the kitchen and had always been mixing my chilled butter and flour with either a fork or my hands, to make things worse Singapore's weather is hot hot hot.. the butter really doesn't stay chilled for long. But with a food processor whiz whiz and it's all nice and crumbly! This is how it looks after a night in the fridge and some rolling pin action.

Mini non-stick egg pan perfect for frying up some shallots!

After all the prep work is done! Pie dough baked, shallots sautéed and spinach wilted! 

The recipe didn't call for spinach but I was afraid the quiche might a little heavy so I whipped some up for the sake of adding a vegetable-y component *twitchesnose*

And now to plop plop plop all the prepped ingredients into the crust!

I just loved how the colours were when I made the cream and egg mixture. The dill looked like mini pine needles and the colours were just so homely.. Homely like if I lived in a hobbit house in the woods. But yea, lovely!

So mix that up and pour it over everything else and it's time to pop it in the oven! 

Tadahhhh smelling delicious!

Salmon and Spinach Quiche

What you'll need:

• Pie dough (Can use recipe mentioned above)
• Olive oil
• 4 medium shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 ounces smoked salmon, chopped
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups chopped spinach (Optional)
• 1Tbsp minced garlic (Optional)
• 1/2 cup milk (Optional)

1. Roll out your prepared pie dough into a circle that's about 5mm thick and make sure it's spread large enough to cover a 12inch pie pan. Once done, flip the pie dough onto the pie pan and press the dough down into the corners. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to let the butter firm up again.

2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place parchment paper over pie dough, pressing it into the corners and weigh it down with some baking weights. I used about 5 cups of white rice. Place in preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes, remove from oven and allow it to cool for a couple minutes. Remove the parchment paper and poke holes in the base so air can escape and the crust doesn't puff up during baking without the baking weights. Put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so till it's lightly golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack without removing from pie pan ( I feel it holds its shape better this way and prevents the crust from falling apart when the wet ingredients are added)

3. Heat about a Tbsp of olive oil in a pan and add the sliced shallots. Cook the shallots till fragrant and caramelised then set aside.

(Omit this step if you don't want to have spinach in your quiche.) 

4. In the same pan add a little more olive oil and heat it up. Add 1 Tbsp of minced garlic and cook till fragrant. Add in chopped spinach and cook till wilted then add in milk and continue mixing till all the moisture evaporates and the spinach becomes nice and mushy. Set aside.

5. Whisk the eggs then whisk in milk, cream, dill, lemon zest and black pepper.

6. Line the quiche crust with cooked shallots then spread out spinach if using then smoked salmon and crumbled goat cheese. Space the ingredients nicely so you get an equal amount of each when you cut the quiche in slices when it's done! Once all the 'dry' fillings are added, pour in your egg mixture and swish the pan a little to guide the mixture into all the crevices and get rid or air bubbles. Transfer the quiche into the oven and bake at 180°C until just set for about 30 - 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before serving to make sure the crust doesn't fall apart when you lift the quiche out of the pan. 

再见