Puff pastry maroille quiche

Tags

brunch, Cheese, lardons, leeks, lunch, maroille, puff pastry, quiche, tart

Maroilles is French, AOC approved, square cow’s milk cheese made in the Picardy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais regions of Northern France. The cheese gets its name from the village of Maroilles where it is still produced. It is also said that the cheese has been created in the 10th century by a monk, Maroilles in northern France. It is matured from five weeks to four months during which it is regularly washed with salt and water.

At four months, the ivory pâte is soft and oily. It has a powerful, pungent aroma suggestive of fermenting fruit and the flavour reminds of smoky bacon. Earthy notes of walnuts and mushrooms contrasted by a strong, pungent aroma are very typical of an aged Maroilles.

Makes 1 quiche, about 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 sheet puff pastry
250g / 9oz Maroilles cheese (1/2 cheese, with rind removed)
4 eggs
1kg / 1/2 pound leeks, (white and light green parts only)
225g / 8oz lardons or bacon – optional
200ml / 3/4 cup thick cream
30g / 2 tablespoons butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180C / 360F
Place the cheese in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up and make slicing it easier
Cut the leeks finely
Over medium heat, melt the butter and gently sauté the leeks and lardons for about 15 minutes in a large skillet
Line a quiche pan, about 9″ / 23 cm with the puff pastry
Cut the Maroilles into small pieces
In a bowl, whisk the eggs lightly
Add the cheese. the cream, the salt and pepper and mix well
Add the leeks and lardons
Pour the mixture onto the puff pastry
Bake for about 30 minutes
Can be eaten hot or cold
Enjoy!

 

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Salade Frisée aux Lardons – Endive salad with bacon

Tags

bacon, classic french, egg, endive, frisee, lardons, salad

Maison Travers

This is one of my all time favorite classic french bistro salads. So easy to put together and a meal in itself or a starter, all depends on how much you serve yourself. You want to use a nice curly endive salad with tender, light green centers. Do not use the harder dark green outer leaves. For the lardons, you may use bacon or pancetta and traditionally the egg is a soft poached egg. Clearly as you can see from my photograph, I did not use a poached egg. A poached egg is way better as when you cut into it, it runs out onto the salad, croutons and lardons and is so good, but I had two hard-boiled eggs in my refrigerator that I wanted to use, so I used that instead.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 handfuls frisée / curly endive
200g lardons
4 eggs
2 teaspoons dijon mustard

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Smoked Duck Magret Salad with Chestnuts and Walnuts

Tags

arugala, chestnuts, croutons, Duck, lardons, leafy green, mache, salad, walnut

Traditional southwestern French flavours at their best – smoked duck breast, crispy lardons, earthy chestnuts, crunchy croutons and toasted walnuts and walnut oil – all with winter greens, arugala and mache, make this salad original and a superb meal. The chestnuts are served warm in this country-style salad from the Périgord. Smoked duck breast is also called magret and you might find it labelled as such in your deli. It is usually sold already sliced very thinly, but if not, be sure to slice it as thin as possible and remove any fat, unless you like the fat, then by all means, leave it on. Traditionally the fat is not removed and with the slices being so thin, the taste is actually very pleasant, buttery but not fatty. This is a great salad to eat in winter when arugula and mache, also known in some parts as lamb’s lettuce, is widely available.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

160 g /  6 oz smoked duck breast, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons french walnut oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, preferably aged (not balsamic)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 slices firm country-style bread, crusts removed, cut into small cubes
1 garlic clove, crushed
200 g / 7 oz lardons, bacon, pancetta or ventéche, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups cooked chestnuts, jarred
4 cups aragula and mache lettuces, rinsed and dried
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

In a small bowl, whisk together the walnut oil, vinegar, salt and pepper
Set the vinaigrette aside
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat
Add the bread cubes and sauté, tossing, until golden, about 2 minutes
Add the garlic and give it an extra toss then remove from pan
In the same skillet, sauté the lardons until almost crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes
Add the chestnuts and more butter if needed
Cook for 1 minute then remove from heat
In a large salad bowl, toss the greens with the vinaigrette
Add the hot chestnuts, lardons, chopped walnuts, croutons and toss gently to mix
Arrange the duck slices on top and serve while chestnuts still warm
Enjoy!