Smoked salmon, leek and mushroom quiche

This year I haven't had much luck with Australian Post. Firstly they lost the postcard that my parents sent me from overseas. And then they directed my RSVP to my friend's wedding back to my address, without a single note or word of explanation! I thought that we are long past the era when people have to worry about losing ther mail. Apparently not!

Enough ranting and back to cooking. After making fried rice with smoked salmon yesterday I still have some fish left from the packet. Not wanting to keep it in the fridge for too long, I made a smoked salmon, leek and mushroom quiche today.

Smoked salmon, leek and mushroom quiche

100g smoked salmon, cut into small pieces
2 trimmed leeks (or buy a whole leek, cut away the green section and the root)
250g sliced mushrooms
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup plain flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup ricotta cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Lightly grease a baking tray.
2) Heat olive oil in a frying pan over moderately high heat. Chop the leeks into thin rings and add them to the pan. Stir for about one minute then add the sliced mushrooms. Cook until both vegetables are softened and excess moisture is evaporated. Set aside and allow them to cool down slightly.
3) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, baking powder and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the cooked vegetables and the smoked salmon and stir well.
4) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the eggs are set. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle extra cheese on top if desired.

燉蛋

If I were to name my five favourite desserts, this one would DEFINITELY make it to the list. I was actually a bit surprised by the simplicity of the recipe when I first found it. But to me cooking should be like this; simple ingredients, easy recipe, yummy food.

燉蛋
(from Christine's Recipes)

125mL milk
1 egg
1 tsp sugar (adjust to taste)

1) In a big stockpot, bring enough water to boil for steaming. (or use a steamer)
2) In a small bowl, beat the egg well. Heat the milk until slightly warm. It has to be hot enough to dissolve the sugar but not too hot that it can cook the egg. Add sugar to the milk.
3) Pour the warm milk into the bowl with the egg and stir to combine. Remove any bubbles on the surface.
4) Cover the bowl with foil and seal the edges. Steam the egg mixture above boiling water on a low heat for 10 minutes. Lift up the lid half way to let the steam escape then replace the lid. The egg mixture should firm up when done.

YUMMMMM!

Crustless Ham & Broccoli Quiche

Quiche is one of those dishes I have never had until I came to Australia. When most people consider the pastry as the best part (when it is cooked right), I sometimes find it slightly too heavy. Since I do not have the patience to make my own pastry, I took an express route and made this very tasty Crustless Ham & Broccoli Quiche.
Because of the lack of pastry, this makes a much lighter meal and is cooked very quickly. There is no worrying about whether the pastry is too thick or under cooked. Despite the name of the dish, the flour does make the sides and the base of the quiche firm up a bit, creating a very light "crust". The only thing I do not like from the original recipe is that it uses 2 egg whites in addition to the 2 whole eggs. I mean, what would you do with the 2 left-over egg yolks? I'm not sure how big of a different it would make but I have included 3 whole eggs in mine and it has worked perfectly.

Crustless Ham & Broccoli Quiche, adopted from Baking Bites


2 small heads of broccoli, finely chopped
120g shredded ham
1 clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2 onion, diced
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups of milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup of cheese (ricotta and Parmesan)

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
2) Lightly grease a baking dish or a quiche pan.
3) Heat a bit of olive oil on a pan over medium-high heat. Saute the diced onion until translucent. Add the garlic and chopped broccoli and stir until cooked and softened. Mix in the shredded ham. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
4) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour and baking powder. Season with pepper. Stir in the cooked ingredients.
5) Pour the egg mixture into the prepared pan. Scatter cheese on the top.
6) Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges of the quiche is golden brown. Let set for 5 minutes. Serve on its own or with salad.

Today's dinner

Baby quiche

This is meant to be a healthier alternative to your ordinary quiche. It actually tastes more like a fish bake than a quiche, because of the proportion of the ingredients. You can really add whatever vegetables that you like. Make sure you add heaps of chopped fresh herbs and enough black pepper - they really add to the flavour.

1 large size onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1 can of mixed beans, mashed
1/3 cup of corn
1/3 cup of mushrooms, diced1/2 head broccoli, finely chopped
1 small can of salmon/tuna, drained
3-4 eggs
1 cup of finely chopped fresh herbs, eg basil, parsley, mint
cracked pepper

1) Pre-heat oven at 180 °C
2) Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms and broccoli and continue to sauté until soft. Add other vegetables and salmon. Turn off the heat and add the eggs. Mix well
3) Spoon mixture into muffin tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
4) Serve warm with salad!Strawberry & Chocolate Slice
I also tried out one of the recipes from the Easy Baking cookbook. I wanted to use up some of the chocolate buttons that I have so, instead of choc chips, I added a layer of melted chocolate on top of the strawberry jam layer. I forgot to buy butter today so I only used half of the butter stated in the recipe. The slices turned out really yummy. Great combination between the strawberry jam and the almond. However the flour mixture did not bind as well as it should, probably because of the amount of butter used. Just have to eat them like crumbles then!!

225g plain flour
1 tsp baking power
100g brown sugar
200g unsalted butter
150g rolled oats
225g strawberry jam
Chocolate buttons
25g flaked almonds

1) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Line 30x20 cm rectangular baking tin with baking paper
2) Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add sugar and mix well. Add the butter and rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the oats.
3) Press three quarters of the mixture into the base of the prepared tin. Bake in preheated oven for 10minutes.
4) Spread the jam over the cooked base. Melt chocolate buttons in microwave and spread over the strawberry jam. Mix the remaining flour mixture with almonds. Sprinkle evenly over the chocolate layer. Press down gently.
5) Bake in the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into slices. Enjoy!