OK, so we had a few distractions between the No-roll quiche crust post – because we visited Mount Rainier National Park, Blueberry Hills farm, and Lake Chelan – to the actual finished product, that is the mushroom quiche post.

I’ll be honest with you… For me, making – and eating! – a mushroom quiche is merely an excellent excuse for devouring mushrooms soaked in heavy cream. I mean, it’s mushrooms… sautéed in butter and simmered in heavy cream… Besides heavy cream made desserts, what could possibly be richer and more decadent and sinful than this??? Mushrooms with cream…

OK, OK, you twist my arm. A steak seared in butter and simmered in heavy cream with pasta and mushrooms to finish it off – soaked in heavy cream themselves – is indeed better than a mushroom quiche. But, if you seek a vegetarian alternative – for lunch or dinner, and even brunch – that’s the way to go.

Mushroom quiche

I used crimini mushrooms this time but feel free to use any kind you like, or a mix of them! (But I do not recommend using dried mushrooms. I made this quiche once before with rehydrated dried porcini (in addition to fresh ‘shrooms) and I didn’t like how it tasted; it tasted like fake mushrooms soup or one from a powdery mix or something… Not good.)

1 small onion, thinly sliced (about 2/3 cup)
12 oz. fresh mushrooms, washed, dried, thinly sliced (stems removed)
a few sprigs of fresh thyme or lemon thyme
1 fat garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
3-4 oz. gruyere cheese, grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 quiche crust, arranged in the pan and chilled

Preheat oven to 360 F degrees.

In a medium size skillet, melt the butter with olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until it softens. Add the mushrooms, garlic, a touch of salt, black pepper, and thyme (Add a drizzle of oil or another knob of butter if needed) and sauté until mushrooms and onion are browned and soft. Remove to a bowl and let cool a bit.

To the bowl with the mushrooms, add the milk and cream and stir. Then, add the cheese and eggs and mix well. Pour the batter over the chilled crust and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the custard is set. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Cook till brown

This is what you end up with. Chill before adding the rest of the custard ingredients (so the eggs won’t curdle).

Take the chilled dough our of the fridge

Pour the batter

… it’s so easy

Ta-da!

Now, how do you take the quiche out of the pan, ha???

Run a toothpick, or one of those thin “thingies” like that red one in the photo, around the edges to loosen them from the side of the pan (If you greased the pan well, the dough will pull away from the pan as it cools).

Then, place the pan over a plate or bowl that is taller than the pan

… and there you have it

And we’re done

You know me, I’m a risk taker. A.k.a I get lazy and bake gnocchi to see what will happen, instead of cook them in boiling water as people are supposed to do.

To justify this sort of moves, I have developed a theory that all great inventors must have been lazy folks who just wanted to make their lives a bit easier… What else would motivate people to work more, and harder, to invent something new had they not seen the option to work less at the end of the process? Just think of all the risks taken! And all the years of research and investment!

Therefore, today I’d like to share with you – no, not a great invention – merely how I make a quiche crust without using unnecessary tools. My lazy-self was thinking, “Why dirty a working surface/board, a rolling pin, and a dough scraper when I can use my 8 fingers instead?” (No, I don’t have 8 finger. I do have 10 like most people. But only 8 get dirty!)

You might like this no-roll method – which can be used for tarts (which are sweet unlike a quiche which is savory; add sugar to the dough) as well – if you:

1. are a great inventor, risk taker… or not

2. are lazy like me

3. like shortcuts

4. are afraid of rolling dough with a rolling pin and/or transferring the rolled dough into the pan. Ouhuhuhuhu, scary.

5. and so on…

Here’s the process:

(Recipe at the end of the post)

Process the dough’s ingredients and stop when they start to form a ball

dump the dough inside your well-greased pan (I like to use butter, no spray.)

First, spread the dough around the edges

then, spread the rest on the bottom

Tighten with your fingers

and again around the edges

and again at the bottom, smoothing things out.

And, Ta-Da!

No-roll quiche crust

This is the same dough as the one in the French Onion Quiche recipe only this time I skipped the rolling and blind baking steps. (If you want to perform those steps, check the onion quiche recipe.) The dough turned out with a flaky and crispy bottom, so I guess blind baking was not critical.

For a 10-11-inch tart pan

2 cups flour
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-2 tablespoons cold water

In a bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, place flour, salt, and butter. Pulse until you get coarse pea-size crumbs, then add the egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Pulse until a moistened crumbs form. If the flour mixture still looks dry and doesn’t form into a ball, add another tablespoon of water and pulse a little more.

Take the dough out of the bowl and dump into a well-greased (tart) pan. With your fingers, work the dough around the edges and the bottom of the pan, spreading it evenly (as shown in the photos above).

Wrap the pan in plastic and refrigerate while you make the quiche filling >>> Click here for the mushroom quiche recipe !

****

Why, why, oh why have I waited so long to make this?

Goodness.

First, basically, I gotta tell you, this is so unbelievably easy to make which is just like totally unbelievable. Like. Totally.

Second, I love it! It’s like you basically make a dough, and like, em, smear jam on it, and sprinkle almonds which have totally been neglected, you know, ‘cause it’s the pecans and walnuts that get all the attention, nut-wise, but almonds are seriously so much more delicious, like totally.

And, thirdly, it’s like so awesome. It taste so good. Seriously. You must make it.

OK, ‘nough with this foolishness.

I’m so ecstatic about this apricot jam crostata that I’m pretty much speechless. It makes my head spin that I start to talk funny. I cannot get over how I have dismissed jam crostatas with a waive of my hand like you shoo a meaningless fly away from your face.

It’s so embarrassing.

I have made Crostata with Summer Fruit before but one with jam? No. It seemed too simple and stupid for some unknown to me reason.

I couldn’t believe that such simplicity could be so heavenly.

Shame on me.

Just, here, look at this,

And here it is glowing in the sunset,

Oh, it got a little imperfection there where jam is oozing out, oh no…

and here it is sprinkled with powdered sugar

here it is wearing blue

Do you prefer it in dark brown?

And, I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta do this to you to; poke you in the eye

Ok, one more. Last one,

Oh so good.

And I loved it with a bit of whipped cream. Dress it up a little. Make it a little fancier, you know.

Whipped cream makes me ecstatic too.

But my family can be indifferent when it comes to whipped cream that it makes me wonder sometimes, “Am I really related to these people? Who are they? Am I in the right house?”

I love homemade whipped cream. But I know some people are scared to give it a try. (Listen, worst case scenario, you’ll end up with homemade butter. It ain’t so bad either, is it?!)

All you have to do is whisk 1 cup of heavy cream with a tablespoon of sugar and if you’re not sure it’s stiff enough, there’s a special modern technology called finger licking you can apply to test its doneness,

and if you’re not sure, whisk it a bit more and test again using your special fingerly device,

Look at this cloud of cream. It does add an extra luxuriousness to the crostata, no?!

Apricot jam crostata

Adapted from “Giada’s Family Dinners” by Giada De Laurentiis

Makes 8 servings

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 lemon, zested + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into half-inch pieces
3 tablespoons ice water
about 3/4 cup apricot jam
a handful of toasted slivered/sliced almonds (toast in 350 F oven)
Powdered sugar for dusting

Whipped cream for serving, optional (It actually should be mandatory. Everything is better with a lil’ pillow of cream)

Combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. 
Add the butter and pulse until the mixture has coarse crumbs. Add the lemon juice and ice water, pulsing until a ball starts to form. 
Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 40-60 minutes. 
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to make an 11-inch round. Roll it around the rolling pin and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Mix the jam to loosen it and make it more spreadable (thin it with water or more lemon juice if needed), and spread over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8-inch round, pleating the crust loosely and sealing any cracks in the dough. 
Bake the crostata until the crust is golden, about 40 minutes (Mine was ready after 30 minutes so watch yours). Let cool for 10 minutes, then carefully slide it onto a serving platter.
Sprinkle with almonds and powdered sugar.

Here’s the last piece. I saved it for you,

Well, actually, no, I didn’t.

It’s mine. All mine.

Like. Totally. Not sharing.

Seriously.

As far as my memory goes back in time, I can count the times I baked with someone on one hand. I don’t get too many opportunities to bake together with family or friends besides my son (who sometimes quits before the process is complete) or an occasional guest. Baking means a lot to me. (This is why I’m starting to think about teaching baking classes!) Having something home-baked is like going the extra mile when it comes to making a home. (I’m not saying it has to be made from scratch.) And baking with someone you like, or even LOVE, is the best combination of all things good.  This week, I got to bake with Jessie.

I met Jessie, a.k.a the Cakespy a few times at Foodbuzz and Frantic Foodie events and every time I had a chance to talk with her, I liked her more. I can’t remember how we got to this idea of getting together to make a pumpkin pie, but we did. It was lots of fun and we made a one terrific pumpkin pie creation together! Look at these layers of beauty…

Don’t you feel like diving right into that pillowy layer of whipped cream flavored with brandy and making a snow angle? Or poking the pumpkin custard with your finger and licking it? Or, if showing better manners, getting a big tablespoon and digging right into the vanilla layer? Don’t you?!

Well, Jessie had a hard time waiting for the custards to set and photos being taken, and right after we took a few photos of the pie, she wanted to cut right into it and sample a slice.

While I was still trying to capture a good, better, best picture.

That’s me. Photo by Cakespy.

Thank you, Jessie!

I know some of you out there, including my dear friends and family, will never cook a custard from scratch. And yes, this pie does have a few steps involved in its creation. Each one really easy on its own, but I admit, it was much easier and faster to make this together than if I had to do it all by myself. All alone in the kitchen…

But no worries, you know me, I always have shortcuts and a few tricks up my sleeve to make your life easier, no? I’ve got 3 words for you: instant. vanilla. pudding. You can use it instead of making the custards. Mix half with the pumpkin ingredients, and half with whipped cream.

And go visit Jessie’s sweet blog, Cakespy, to see what she wrote about this fabulous pie.

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Pumpkin banana cream pie

The pumpkin custard is based on an Ina Garten’s Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart and the vanilla custard is based on Tom Douglas’s Coconut cream pie (- the coconut + banana).

We used an 11-inch tart pan but you can use a regular pie pan. In any case, you probably will have some extra custard which you can layer and serve in pretty little bowls, as you can see here Pumpkin banana creamy dreamy dessert.

For an 11-inch tart pan + extra custard to fill 3 bowls/martini glasses

For the dough:
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
2 egg yolks
¾ cup banana chips, crushed to bits in food processor

For the vanilla pastry cream:
2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise or 1 teaspoon extract/paste
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

For the pumpkin custard layer:
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
A pinch ground nutmeg
3 extra-large egg yolks
1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 ripe banana, finely mashed
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice

For whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons brandy

1-2 bananas thinly sliced

For the dough:

Pulse butter, sugar, and flour in a food processor, or do it with hands, until you get big crumbs. Add the yolks, pulse until the crumbs are moist. Press into a generously greased 11-inch tart pan. Press the crushed banana chips into dough. Refrigerate covered for ½ hour.
Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes.

For the coconut pastry cream:

Warm the milk in a medium saucepan until it almost comes to a boil. Add the vanilla. (If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean and add both the seeds and pod to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir occasionally.)

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well combined. Temper the eggs (to keep them from scrambling) by pouring about 1/3 cup of the scalded milk into the egg mixture while whisking. Then add the warmed egg mixture to the saucepan of milk. Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. (Remove and discard the vanilla pod.) Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over a bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming and refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it cools.

For the pumpkin layer:

Heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, ginger, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly (so the eggs to scramble) until it reaches 160 F degrees. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup orange juice (or water). Add the dissolved gelatin, banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to chill in the fridge or use the same ice bath as the vanilla cream.

For the whipped cream:

In an electric mixer with the whisk, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and brandy on medium-high speed until firm peaks form.

To assemble:

When the custards and dough are cooled, assemble the pie by layering the fresh bananas on top of the dough. Then spoon with vanilla cream on top, smoothing the surface. Next, add the pumpkin custard, and last spoon the whipped cream. Decorate with banana chips or fresh banana slices (add fresh banana only shortly before serving so they don’t brown). Let pie set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Really, it’s easy as pie. But much easier, and funner, when you make it together with a friend.

Coming up next, this…

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Flaky, buttery, delicate crust and a savory-sweet and creamy filling. Do I need to say more? It’s so light and satisfying that you will have room for that decadent chocolaty dessert. Although I think vanilla might work better…

Now, a word about the dough. Ohhhh, and what a dough it is! So flavorful. I have already mentioned flaky, right?!
I always thought that the bottom of the pie/galette/crostata doesn’t get as much attention as it should have. See for example your typical cardboard tasting graham cracker crust for cheesecake. Don’t you think that cheesecakes deserve a better crust than that boring thing?! I really should do something about it. The dough’s potential is not stretched to the maximum. In this recipe, however, the dough gets an extra oomph from sage. I’m sure that thyme, oregano, and/or parsley, or any other herby friend will work excellent too in this recipe. You really really should try this.

Butternut Squash Galette
Slightly adapted (in *) from a recipe in Gourmet magazine, February 2009

For pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 to 6 tablespoons ice-cold water
1 large egg, lightly beaten

For filling:
1 (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2- by 1/4-inch slices (4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced crosswise
6 ounces soft mild goat cheese, crumbled
A few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked*
Pine nuts, partially toasted*

Make dough:
Pulse flour, butter, sage, and sea salt in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle ice water evenly over mixture and pulse until it just forms a ball. (Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.) Gently press dough into a 5-inch disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make filling while dough chills:
Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in middle. (I roasted it in a 425 F*).
Toss squash with sea salt and 1 Tbsp oil and arrange in 1 layer in a 17-by 12-inch shallow baking pan. Roast until golden brown on edges and undersides, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove squash from oven and reduce oven temperature to 375°F.

Meanwhile, wash leeks, then cook in remaining 2 tablespoons oil with a pinch of sea salt in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool slightly. Add squash, goat cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and toss gently.

Make galette:
Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Transfer to a baking sheet. Arrange filling in an even layer in center of dough, leaving a 2- to 3-inch border. Fold dough in on itself to cover outer rim of filling, pleating dough as necessary. Brush pastry with beaten egg and bake galette until crust is cooked through and golden on edges, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack 10 minutes before serving.

Cooks’ note: Pastry dough can be chilled up to 1 day. Filling can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day!
Nurit

This recipe was linked to in Magazine Mondays hosted by the wonderful food blog Cream Puffs in Venice. Go check it out and see for yourslef the lovely recipes and gorgeous food photos, but don’t drool, OK?

Also check what’s Sweet and Smoky and what’s “Crunchy”