Stocks, sauces and soups: living the dream in culinery school
| Editorial |
By Alison Sutherland-Mann
Red Seal Chef
So there I was, living in a two bedroom, one bath, one tiny kitchen and living room dorm room, with a ’roomie’ from Quesnel! (I was delighted to have someone from the same area as me.) I was developing a lifestyle that was very different from what I was used to, but different is fun, as it is new, it is change and it was Culinary School--so it was living the dream!
We were in the kitchen early in the morning to get the classroom work done and get our assignment for the day. You would be assigned to different areas most days, so if you were in stocks and sauces, or soups you would fill out your prep sheet and get at it! You had until 11:30 to get ready for lunch service and we fed the college students, the staff and instructors.
Approximately 150 people went through our food line a day.
It was hectic, but at 1:00pm we could sit down for half an hour and also enjoy the food we had produced that day. I began eating my larger meal at lunch and rarely cooked in the evening for supper.
Often eggs were involved in the early evening meal in various ways, and one of my favorites was quiche.
Here’s a classic quiche dish.
Quiche Lorraine
Line a 9’ pie plate with pie crust (recipe and ideas to follow)
Filling:
4 slices bacon chopped and fried to golden crisp
1small onion small diced; fry with the bacon
1 cup gruyere or Swiss or other tasty cheese--your choice
4 eggs
1cup light cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Spread bacon and onions and cheese evenly over the bottom of the pie crust.
In a mixing bowl whisk eggs and cream; add salt and pepper to taste (and I like a touch of cayenne)
Pour over bacon and cheese
Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes until puffed up and golden brown
Quiche filling---while it is always eggs and cream you can make many variations of your own, easy to make a vegetarian version by adding other veggies like peppers, mushroom and zucchini I have even put chunks of avocados in for a creamy texture. I also like artichoke hearts, or smoked (or regular cooked) salmon and this time of year several fresh herbs are delicious in quiche! Then you can always serve with a fresh salad for a full meal!
Pie crust: 1-3/4
4 cups all purpose flour
4 tbsp cold butter
Pinch of salt
You can place flour, butter and salt in food processor and process until it is little pebbles, add water and pulse briefly, then shape dough into ball and refrigerate 30 minutes, before rolling out to fit pie plate. (Bakers tip--if you roll dough between two sheets of parchment that have been floured it is much easier to work with)
Another option if you don’t want to make pie dough--use Phyllo dough (available in most freezer sections in the grocery store) cut into squares that will fit to line the pie plate; use several layer as it is very thin dough (six to eight sheets) brush edges with melted butter and fill as you would pie dough.
Quiche freezes well and reheats well.
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