Pies 'n' Thighs in Brooklyn

After dropping off Noele, we went out to dinner with Anna to Pies 'n' Thighs in Brooklyn. What a vibe: Formica tables, red gingham, and chalkboard menus. The food was straight from a '50s diner, and we all had fried chicken, although Anna had hers on a sandwich with bacon. Yes, I do highlight the bacon. The chicken was delicious but otherwise simply fried chicken. For dessert, we shared a slice of their "bluebarb" pie. I don't think I need to explain that. That was a delicious piece of pie. If we go again, I'll still have the fried chicken, but I'll eat less of it and save more room for pie.

Olympics Day 15: French Quiche

It's been a few days without an Olympics feast post, but we're back. Noele is home for the weekend, so Gail wanted to make an international, vegetarian dish. Quiche fit the bill. In addition, we had a feast from Gail's garden including a sauteed vegetable medley and a green salad. We also had sauteed kale from the CSA vegetables our neighbors brought over. As if that wasn't enough, Gail made a berry pie for dessert and I contributed by making her a cappuccino. What's the vegetarian equivalent to the fatted calf?

The quiche had garlic from the garden and sauteed leeks. It came out light, creamy and set up well. It was a good centerpiece to our French feast. I added Gail's recipe to the end of the post.

The side dishes were the real stars though. The kale had intensely full flavors like collard greens. It had a smoky flavor almost like it was cooked in bacon. The other three dishes were straight from Gail's garden. Everything in the salad except the greens was fresh picked including radishes, tomatoes, and a lemon cucumber. The lemon cucumber was small and round like a lemon, with very mild cucumber flavor. The vegetable mix was delightfully sweet from our first ear of corn. It also included eggplant, tomatoes, green beans and summer squash. The new potatoes were simply boiled and had an amazingly bright taste: a star among stars.




The berry pie had strawberries and the biggest blueberries we could imagine. They literally popped in our mouths as we chewed them. A scoop of vanilla ice cream rounded out this definitive summer dessert.





I had a Les Sans Culottes from Brasserie La Choulette. It had a grand sweet flavor, combining malt and hops. It was also slightly over bitter, and those great sweet flavors lingered a bit too long. Despite that, a pretty good beer.




Quiche

1 prepared pie crust
2 oz Cheddar cheese (1/2 c shredded)
4 eggs
1 c whole milk (sour milk is fine; lower-fat milks will not set as well)
2 T diced onions
¼ t salt
½ t thyme

1. Line pie pan with crust; preheat oven to 350 F; shred cheese.
2. Beat eggs; combine with milk, onion, salt and thyme; set aside.
3. Place pie pan on baking sheet. Layer shredded cheese into crust.
4. Pour egg mixture over cheese; bake 40 to 50 min, until set.
5. Cool at least 10 min before cutting. Serve warm or cold.

Variations:

• Use half-and-half, light cream, or heavy cream in place of milk for richer, firmer custard.
• Use 1/8 t cayenne pepper in place of thyme.
• Substitute Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese for Cheddar.
• Add 2 c broccoli or 1 ½ lb spinach (trimmed, chopped, steamed, drained and cooled enough to not curdle eggs) to pie pan before adding cheese; pour egg mixture over.
• Add ½ lb cooked crumbled bacon or ¾ c chopped ham.
• Top cooked quiche with layer of sliced tomatoes; broil 1 min.

Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake from A Passion for Baking

Dorthea came over last night for our Nova Scotia Hot Lobster. She brought a delicious apple pastry she made from this recipe. It's from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman. More pie than cake, this is a deep apple pastry held together with a vanilla custard. I love an apple custard pie. This recipe takes that to the extreme, and adds a stunning presentation. Thank you Dorthea.

Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake
A Passion for Baking
Marcy Goldman

Crust
2 c flour
1 T sugar
½ t salt
¾ c unsalted butter, cut in chunks
4-6 T ice water or half-and-half

Filling
10-12 large apples, peeled, cored, and cut in ¼-inch slices
¼ c sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 t cinnamon
½ c raisins, plumped
1 T lemon juice

Vanilla Custard
½ c unsalted butter, melted
1 c sugar
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
2 T flour
1 t cinnamon

1. Brush bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan with butter and place on a baking sheet.
2. Mix pastry ingredients in a food processing, adding water until the dough forms. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
3. While chilling dough, cut apples and mix with filling ingredients.
4. Roll dough and fit in springform all the way up the sides.
5. Preheat oven to 350°.
6. Arrange apples to fill pastry, neatly arranging the final layer.
7. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
8. While baking, mix the custard.
9. Uncover and continue baking for 40-55 minutes until apples are soft and brown.
10. Pour the custard over the hot apples and bake another 20 minutes.
11. Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate at least 6 hours.