Monday, March 16, 2009

Seafood Quiche- the recipe you'll want to change a little


For Sunday brunch I decided to try and re-create and amazing quiche I recently had for lunch at a local restaurant. It came out tasting really good, but next time I make it I would make a few changes so initially I didn't post the recipe. I posted a Lemon Blackberry cake instead. Lolly left a comment on my last post (cake recipe is here) asking for the quiche recipe. So here it is, but before you use it, you should remember 2 things:
  • This was my first ever quiche- I may be doing something that you never do to a quiche (I thought I could wing it- it seemed like scrambled egg pie with filling...)
and
  • That I want to try this again and make some changes. The egg was a little too dense. I think I'd add half and half to the egg and whisk it together longer to lighten it up a little. (It was yummy though.)

When I was in the grocery store I bought what I thought would be enough. Turns out what I bought would make enough for two quiches. make two or do like we did and save he extra seafood for a killer pasta dish the next night!

You'll need:
  • Store bought refrigerated pie crust
  • 1/4 lb. of small bay scallops
  • 1/4 lb. Small shrimp (the 50 to 60 tails per lb. size or even smaller if you can them) do not shell
  • 4-6 oz cooked lobster meat
  • 4-6 oz cooked crab meat.
  • 1 shallot
  • 2 tbs butter
  • salt
  • pepper
  • parsley (optional)
  • heavy cream or half and half (This is the the variable I would play with)
  • Swiss Cheese- grated, 1/4 cup or less I used less.
  • Large carton of Egg substitute (I used all egg whites that are colored to look like whole eggs).
Using the egg in a carton could also account for the "dense" texture of the egg. so I might play with this next time too and try using actual eggs or a mix of both).

Prep time 30-45 minutes
Cook time about 35 min.

Follow the directions for baking the pie shell only but bake it for slightly less time than the directions indicate (since it will go back into the oven). For my brand of pie shell I let the dough come to room temp. Unroll it into a pie pan. Used a fork to dot the sides and bottom and baked it at 350 for 8-10 min. instead of the 10-15.

While the crust was cooking and cooling I finely chopped a shallot, and added it to a saute pan (med-low heat) with the butter. I let the shallot sweat until it was slightly translucent, then added the scallops I let them go a few minutes stirring occasionally until the scallops were almost totally cooked- but not quite (they were very close to being cooked- I just didn't want them to get rubbery since they were going to cook more in the oven). 

I removed the mix from the pan then added the shrimp to the pan- still in their shells so they them get a crust getting a crust or even burning a little in the pan. I also think this keeps them moist so they don't get rubbery in the oven later. I cooked them until they were white but not yet splaying apart.

Next I put the scallop and shallot mix into the bottom of the crust. I shelled the shrimp and lined those around the crust too. I put the crab in- break the meat up into small pieces (if it isn't already) you want a mix of textures, some big pieces of shell fish and small. And this way the crab pretty much runs all through the egg mixture instead of here and there like the other seafoods.

Then came the lobster. I left the small claw pieces whole and placed them around on the top of the other meats. Then used smaller pieces to fill in where I needed to.

Now for the egg. I used egg beaters. I would add at least 4 tbl of half and half but I've seen a 1/2 cup or more in other basic quiche recipes I've looked up since yesterday. If you've made a quiche before I would use that as your reference. Whisk in salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the crust.

Grade up the swiss cheese but reserve this until later I put it on the top after the quiche baked for a while.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then sprinkle the swiss on the top. Bake for 5 more minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the edges of the crust start to get too brown at any point cover them with foil.

Next time I would also add a bit of fresh chopped parsley to the top for serving- I know it sounds passé but this is one of those things that really would look good with a bit of green on the top. 

If anyone makes this I would love to know any alterations you've made and how it came out. I know I will be experimenting with it again trying to get the texture right. It tasted great- even if it was a bit dense.

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