Spring Onion Quiche with Herby Short-Crust Pastry

We love quiche and make it fairly regulary always trying out new toppings and this time, also a new base.

(serves 4-6)

1 quantity of herby short-crust pastry
2 bunches of spring onions, roughly chopped
2 large cloves of garlic
1 small bunch of parsely, finely chopped
4 large eggs
150 ml soured cream/crème fraîche/ordinary cream
splash of milk
sea salt
black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
extra virgin olive oil

Make the pastry according to the recipe. Grease a 26 cm fluted flan dish with a tiny bit of olive oil. Place the pastry ball into the middle and with your knuckles spread it evenly. Stab a few times with a fork, cover in greaseproof paper, pour on ceramic baking beads (or failing that uncooked rice, chickpeas, beans or similar).

Preheat the oven to 200 °C/gas mark 5 and blind bake for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the topping. Clean and wash the spring onions, then coarsely chop them. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and sauté the spring onions over a medium heat until just softened and lightly brown.

Beat the eggs, season with pepper, salt and nutmeg. Add the cream and milk and mix well. Squeeze the garlic through a garlic press and finely chop the parsley. Add to the egg mix.

When the 15 minutes are up remove the pastry from the oven using oven gloves, pour off the beads and remove the paper. Pour the topping onto the pastry and bake at 200 °C/gas mark 5 for 35-45 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Cooked Salad of Green Beans and Hard Boiled Eggs

Last weekend, we were given a heap of organic veggies by our friends from Rowanbank and have been eating really well all week. Normally I sauté green beens with onion and garlic before adding stock and/or tomatoes and serving them as a vegetable side dish or salad. Today I fancied doing something a wee bit different and steamed them instead. While the salad was marinating I hard boiled some eggs for no specific purpose. Not having had any lunch I decided to add a couple of the egss to the beans. The result was icredibly morish. I could have eaten the whole lot by myself!

500 g green beans
2 hard boiled eggs
fabby vinaigrette
dried oregano
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Top and tail, then wash the beans. Cut them into 2-inch pieces, place into a steamer, season with pepper, salt and oregano. Bring some water to the boil, place the steamer on top and cover. Steam the beans for 5-8 minutes until just tender turning them occasionally. Place into a large bowl and dress to taste with the vinaigrette. Leave to cool but mix them every so often so prevent the beans from cooking further. Chop up two hard boiled eggs and gently mix with the beans. Eat slightly warm or at room temperature.

Asparagus and herb omelette

4 organic eggs, lightly beaten
a good handful of mixed fresh herbs, e. g. basil, chives, coriander, parsley
100 g steamed asparagus, cut into 3 cm long pieces (before adding lime or lemon juice)
1/2 red chilli, finely sliced (optional)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Preheat the grill.

2. Beat the eggs and season with pepper and salt.

3. Pour the eggs into the frying pan and cook for a minute before adding the herbs, asparagus and chilli, if used.

3. Cook until the underside of the omelette is golden brown.

4. To finish place the frying pan under the hot grill for a minute or two until the omelette puffs up and is lightly coloured.

Serve hot or cold.

Just can't resist but have to publish a photo of this pretty (and tasty) herb omelette with borage flowers.

Salad with Seeds and Quail Eggs

12 quail eggs, hard boiled
2-3tbsp of toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds
cherry plum tomatoes
2 little gem lettuces/ 1 Romaine or Cos lettuce
1 avocado, chunks scooped out
vinaigrette to taste

Boil the quail eggs as per packet instructions, i.e. place into boiling water, place the lid on the saucepan and simmer for 4 minutes. Drain and add cold water.

Arrange the salad ingredients on a deep platter or in a shallow bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Tip:
Little gem is quite a sturdy lettuce (but, to be honest, rather bland) as are Romaine and Cos lettuce, and can be dressed a little in advance. If using more delicate leaves, don't dress them until you're ready to serve the salad. Or place the bowl on the table and serve the dressing in a separate jug so everyone can help themselves. That way if there is any left over salad, it won't get wasted but can be put in the fridge for later.