Bonjour aux Visiteurs Français . . . and LEEK QUICHE

I have been pleased to see in my Blog History that I get a number of visitors from France.  

My first visit to France was as an employee of the Canadian Government.  I was blown away by the Rose Window in Chartres Cathedral.

In Paris, I stayed at the Grand Hotel, and the ensuite bathroom obviously made quite an impression because I still have a mind picture of a room tiled black and white and a bidet.

Then, Bryan and I visited Paris on our honeymoon in 1974.  We stayed in a small hotel on the Left Bank.

Memorable Gastronomic experiences?  On the government’s dime:

. . . my first oysters on the half shell: what a struggle with that waiter's all-knowing eye on me.

. . . ris de veau in a fancy restaurant. I didn't actually know what I was ordering except that it was veal.

As a newlywed:

. . . baguette and cold cuts on the Champs Elysée . . . 

*******

My latest creation:

LEEK QUICHE (FLAMICHE --  QUICHE aux POIREAUX)

from:  MASTERING the ART of FRENCH COOKING  by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck

1 lb finely sliced white of leek

½ cup water

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

3 eggs

1 ½ cups whipping cream

Pinch of nutmeg

⅛ tsp pepper

½ tsp salt

a 9 inch partially-baked pie crust  

¼ cup grated Swiss cheese

1 tbsp butter cut into tiny pieces

• Make and bake the pie crust for only 8 minutes (partially baked).  Use Mary Stadnyk’s pie crust recipe:  
   http://eleanorstadnyk.blogspot.com/2013/06/company-and-pie-crust.html
•  Let cool.
• Boil the leeks over moderately high heat in a covered saucepan with the water, salt, and 3 tbsp butter until liquid has almost evaporated.  Then lower heat and stew over minimum heat for 2 to 30 minutes until leeks are very tender.  
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Whisk the eggs, cream and seasonings to blend.  Gradually stir in the leeks.
• Pour into pie shell.  
• Spread on the cheese and distribute the bits of butter.
• Julia says bake for 30 minutes but mine needed 15 more minutes.

Fantastique! 

Serve with a salad or Julia’s amazing Tomates à la Provençale, page 507.   Yes, you really need to get her book.  

Kepler ate the quiche, too!

P.S. Note the Cobalt Blue Pyrex Pie Dish circa 1974? I found it in a Thrift Shop in Laredo!