Tomato, mozzarella and olive tart

Tags

fiesta friday, mozzarella, olives, quiche, tarts, tomato

This is so quick and easy to put together and looks and tastes great. Using a good quality mozzarella makes all the difference. I used Mozzarella di Bufala, or buffalo mozzarella, a mozzarella made from the milk of the domestic Italian water buffalo. I find it is not necessary to add salt to this tart as the olives are already rather salty but do add pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper if you desire. Kalamata olives are good to use as they are quite meaty and easier to pit than smaller olives. Of course if you buy already pitted olives, it is even easier. But, please do not use olives in tins or jars, do use fresh olives, they taste so much better and are firm and not mushy.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Puff pastry, blind baked
1 large coeur de boeuf tomato (beefsteak type – meaty and fleshy)
15 kalamata olives, pips removed and halved
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 to 2 balls of mozzarella, torn
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
6 basil leaves

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F
Slice the tomato and the onion
Arrange the tomato and the onion slices in the pre-cooked pastry shell
Dot with the olives
Add the torn mozzarella on top
Mix eggs with the cream, black and cayenne pepper
Pour into the pastry case
Bake for 30 minutes or until the tart is set
Add the basil leaves
Enjoy!

 

 

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Butternut, Comté and almond tart

Tags

almonds, butternut, comté, quiche, rainbow nation, South Africa, tart, vegetarian

The first thing I have to do is own up that this is not one of my own creations. Yes, I made it but no, I did not “invent” it. This delicious recipe is courtesy of Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, Executive chef and owner of world renowned  1* Michelin restaurant JAN in Nice, France. The only South African chef to be awarded a Michelin star.

I saw the recipe in a magazine while I was in Cape Town a few weeks ago and have been wanting to try it ever since. Today, was the day. The beauty of this quiche is not only its texture, but also the nuttiness that complements the butternut so well. The quiche was delicious although next time I will replace the allspice with curry powder or cayenne pepper to give it a bit more kick.

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS: 

Crust
100 g / 1 cup all-purpose flour
50 g / 1/2 cup almond flour
75 g / 5 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
Fine sea salt

Filling
500 g / 1 lb butternut, seeded and diced
Olive oil for drizzling
Fine sea salt and ground black pepper
3 eggs
20 ml / 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
100 g / 3/4 cup almond flour
100 g / 3/4 cup Comté or strong Cheddar cheese, grated
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch ground allspice (or curry or peri-peri or cayenne)
Pinch ground cumin
50 g / 2 oz flaked almonds

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 F.

2. For the crust, use your fingers to combine the flours and the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg yolk and salt and mix until a dough forms. If necessary, add ice water if the dough is not soft enough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3. To make the filling, place the butternut cubes on a baking tray, drizzle with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the butternut is soft. Transfer the butternut to a food processor and blend until it forms a smooth purée. Spoon the mixture into a mixing bowl and add the eggs, melted butter, almond flour, cheese and spices. Mix well with a wooden spoon until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

4.Butter a quiche pan. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and gently lift the pastry by placing the edge on the rolling pin and carefully lifting it. Place in the quiche pan and press lightly with your fingers until even. Cut a piece of baking paper and place it inside the pan. Fill with rice or baking beans and bake in the preheated oven for 10–15 minutes. Remove the beans and return to oven for 5 minutes until the crust is golden. Leave to cool.

5. Fill the pastry shell with the butternut egg mixture and bake at 180 °C / 350 F for about 45 minutes. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds a few minutes before the end of the cooking time. Serve warm.

6. Enjoy!

 

 

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Quiche au confit de canard / Duck confit quiche

Tags

Duck, duck confit, quiche

Yesterday, I posted how to make the perfect quiche and today I am giving you a typical Périgordian quiche recipe. The Périgord is the name of the area in which I live and is located in south west France. It is a natural region and corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne département, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine région. It is divided into 4 sections, black, green, purple and white. Dordogne is in the Périgord Noir or black Périgord. The cuisine of the Périgord – just uttering these words, makes one immediately think of foie gras and truffles. But the Périgord does not limit itself to these two prestigious products. From the white Périgord to the black, from the green to the purple, a multitude of flavours await you: cèpes (porcini mushrooms), chestnuts, walnuts, strawberries… and of course poultry, especially duck.
This quiche recipe calls for a leg of duck confit which you can buy either vacuum sealed or in jars or cans.  It is unbelievably flavorful and contrary to what you might think, not at all fatty. The fat is used as a means of preservation but is removed before eating. Of course, if you wish, it makes the best potatoes ever and is used in many other dishes. Here, we cook with duck fat as one would with butter and, believe it or not, the people have a very low rate of  heart disease and one of the longest life expectancies in France. In case you are not familiar with confit, here is a brief description:

To prepare a confit, the meat is rubbed with salt, garlic, and sometimes herbs such as thyme, then covered and refrigerated for up to 36 hours. Salt-curing the meat acts as a preservative. Prior to cooking, the spices are rinsed from the meat, which is then patted dry. The meat is placed in a cooking dish deep enough to contain the meat and the rendered fat, and placed in an oven at a low temperature (76 – 135 degrees Celsius/170 – 275 Fahrenheit). The meat is slowly poached at least until cooked, or until meltingly tender, generally four to ten hours. The meat and fat are then removed from the oven and left to cool. When cool, the meat can be transferred to a canning jar or other container and completely submerged in the fat. A sealed jar of duck confit may be kept in the refrigerator for up to six months, or several weeks if kept in a reusable plastic container. To maximize preservation if canning, the fat should top the meat by at least one inch. The cooking fat acts as both a seal and preservative and results in a very rich taste. Skipping the salt curing stage greatly reduces the shelf life of the confit. Confit is also sold in cans, which can be kept for several years. The flavourful fat from the confit may also be used in many other ways, as a frying medium for sautéed vegetables (e.g., green beans and garlic, wild or cultivated mushrooms), savory toasts, scrambled eggs or omelettes, and as an addition to shortcrust pastry for tarts and quiches. A classic recipe is to fry or grill the legs in a bit of the fat until they are well-browned and crisp, and use more of the fat to roast some potatoes and garlic as an accompaniment. The potatoes roasted in duck fat to accompany the crisped-up confit is called pommes de terre à la sarladaise.

But, lets get back to our quiche. The recipe in English follows below.

Ingrédients:

1 pâte brisée
10g de beurre
300 g de champignons
2 échalotes
1 cuisse de canard confit
3 gros oeufs
300 ml de crème fraîche
Sel et poivre
Ciboulette

Préparation:

Préchauffer le four à 200C
Éplucher les échalotes et les couper
Dans une poêle beurrée, faire dorer les champignons et les échalotes
Dans une jatte, fouettez les oeufs et la crème fraîche
Ajouter la ciboulette hachée
Saler et poivrer
Effilocher le confit
Étaler la pâte dans un moule à tarte de 23 cm
Piquer le fond avec une fourchette
Enfourner la pâte pour 15 minutes
Sortir du four
Répartir le confit, les champignons et verser la préparation
Enfourner 30 minutes
Servir de suite avec uns petite salade verte
Bon Appétit!

 

Duck confit quiche

Serves 4 to 5

Ingredients:

1 pâte brisée, blind baked
300 g mushrooms (I used a mixture of cremini and button), sliced
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 duck leg, confit
3 eggs
300 ml créme fraîche
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chives, finely chopped

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F
Warm a skillet on medium heat and place the duck leg in it to melt the fat and make it easier to remove the skin, about 2 to 3 minutes
Remove the leg, keep the fat
Discard skin and bones and shred the meat into small pieces
Layer the duck meat at the bottom of your tart shell
Add the shallots and mushrooms to your pan with the duck fat and sauté for about 3 to 5 minutes
Layer the mixture on top of the meat in the tart shell
In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the cream
Add the chives and season
Pour the egg and cream mixture over
Bake for 30 minutes until golden and puffed
Serve warm with a small green salad
Enjoy!