Delicious quiche, flavourful flan

Clupeophilia. That's it. I've found a word that is not in the Merriam Webster dictionary. It's probably coined by Oliver Sacks who wrote an excellent little piece in The New Yorker about the annual herring festival. Yes, the word is related to clupeidae, the specie name for herring, and clupea harengus, the Atlantic herrings, and denotes the passionate love of these little fish.

Zucchini (courgette) and cheese flan

The appearance of this article coincided with the sudden eruption of a great variety of canned herring taking up vast eye-level prime shelf space in Villa Market, pushing canned tuna and salmon out of their usual prominence. Is Villa catering to a newly found Thai taste or are they only meeting the demand of the expatriates in Thailand?

Most Thai people grow up cherishing a great fondness for pla tu, a fish of the mackerel family found in the Gulf of Thailand. Bamboo baskets containing two pla tu are standard units seen in markets everywhere. We eat them steamed or fried. Pla tu with nam prik kapi, a fish paste relish, is practically a national dish. They are also popular in yum or spicy salad dishes, and of course in tom yum soups. My own favourite is using the cooked flesh to make a pla tu relish to be eaten with crisp vegetables.

With that as my frame of reference, I can see the similarity in the role of herring in the West where they are one of the commonest , cheapest and most versatile fish lending themselves to marinating, pickling, salting, fermenting and smoking. Oliver Sacks describes how, when he was growing up in England in the 19030s, his family had smoked herring (kippers) at breakfast, a herring pie at lunch, fried herring roe on toast for tea and chopped herring for dinner most days. He asserts that herring is one of the healthiest fish, full of omega-3 oil, and tells of the oldest person in the world, a 114-year-old Dutch woman, who attributed her longevity to eating pickled herring every day. In fact, pla tu is not at all far behind in its omega-3 attributes, but sadly we don't have comparable statistics to boast about.

Ultimate quiche

Neither herring nor pla tu makes it into one of my quiches today, however. The place is taken by salmon, another very healthy, omega-3-rich fish, in its smoked form. I come to quiches every once in a while because they are such perfect complete meals. The crust provides carbohydrate and fat, the fillings a veritable symphony of delicious protein in endless tasty combinations, with the possibility of vitamins being injected with all kinds of vegetables. To make good quiches however, you do need a light hand at making pastry, so your crust is crisp and crumbly rather than hard and chewy. I assure you, however, that the pastry recipes I provide are easy to follow, giving you pastry dough that can be rolled out right away with no need for hours of chilling before hand.

But if you still quail at undertaking such a task, how about starting with the ultimate quiche using store-bought frozen puff pastry which you only have to thaw and roll out? The term ultimate is not lightly bestowed. This is a classic bacon-egg-and-cream quiche using rich, smooth sour cream instead of normal pouring cream. It puffs up dramatically in the oven and delivers the great taste the aroma promises.

Courgettes, which you will find tagged as zucchini in this market, takes on cheddar to make the courgette and cheese flan. I like the slightly bitter aftertaste of zucchini, with the breadcrumbs and cheese combination making a very crispy top crust. Chunks of crab meat marinated for an hour with spring onions, parsley, a shot of vermouth and a kick of chilli powder makes the crab quiche a winner. The best baking tray to use is a deep one to do justice to the ample filling. If you only have shallow quiche tray, you'll need to halve the ingredients, or make two.

The first mentioned salmon flan has a Scottish origin, not only in reference to the smoked salmon, but also the rather interesting crust, which contains oatmeal. Oatmeal is not readily available, but you can make your own by blitzing any normal oat flakes in a food processor. It gives the crust extra crunchiness with a nutty flavour. Taste your smoked salmon before seasoning the filling. Some can be already salty enough and needing no extra.

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ULTIMATE QUICHE

To serve 4

Crab quiche

INGREDIENTS:

8 slices bacon cut into 1/2inch pieces

200g frozen puff pasty, thawed

4 eggs

160ml whipping cream

160g sour cream

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

80g gruyere, grated

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C. Put a baking sheet into the oven at the same time. Fry bacon until crisp, and drain on paper towels.

2. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch square. Fit pastry into an 8-inch deep-dish (11/2-inch deep) fluted quiche pan with a removable bottom. Roll the rolling pin over top to trim pastry flush with rim.

3. Whisk eggs in a bowl until combined, then whisk in sour cream, salt, and nutmeg just until smooth. Sprinkle bacon evenly into the pan. Pour filling over it and top with gruyere. Bake quiche on heated baking sheet until centre is set (it should not jiggle when shaken), 40-50 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature. Unmould and serve.

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COURGETTE (ZUCCHINI) AND CHEESE FLAN

To serve 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

Scottish salmon flan

- For pastry

120g all-purpose flour

pinch salt

60g chilled unsalted butter, diced

2 tbsp water zFor filling

250g courgettes (zucchini)

40g unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, crushed

grated zest of 1 lime

2 tsp lime juice

2 tsp all-purpose flour

200ml milk

80g cheddar cheese, grated

1 egg, separated

2 tbsp fresh white bread crumbs

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C. Slice the courgettes. Place in a colander and sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt. Leave to degorge for 30 minutes to 1 hour, then rinse will.

2. Pastry: Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C. Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Rub in butter with fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add water. Mix until dough comes together. Form into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge if not using right away.

3. Roll out the pastry and line an 8-inch loose-bottomed quiche pan, prick the base with a fork. Line pastry with foil and weigh it down with a couple of handfuls of rice. Bake 10 minutes; lift out the foil and rice and bake a further five to 10 minutes until pastry is pale golden.

4. Filling: Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the crushed garlic, lime rind, and courgettes. Saute until the courgettes start to soften. Season with salt and pepper, add the lime juice, then lift out the courgettes and put them on a plate.

5. Stir the flour into the buttery juices in the pan, adding more butter if necessary. Cook the flour for a minute and add the milk gradually. Once all the milk is combined bring the sauce to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes. Remove from the heat and add three-quarters of the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then beat in the egg yolk.

6. Whisk the egg white stiffly, fold it into the sauce and then spread the mixture into the baked quiche pastry. Place the courgettes on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese, mixed with the breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until set. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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CRAB QUICHE

To serve 4

INGREDIENTS:

- For pastry

140g all-purpose flour

pinch salt

60g chilled unsalted butter, diced

2 tbsp water

- For filling

1 cup crab meat in chunks

1 tbsp spring onion, chopped

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tbsp vermouth, or dry sherry

1 tsp chilli powder

2 eggs

250ml whipping cream

pinch nutmeg

PREPARATION:

1. Pastry: Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Rub in butter with fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add water, use a little more if necessary. Mix until dough comes together. Form dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge if not using right away. Roll out the pastry and line an 8-inch deep-dish loose-bottomed quiche pan. Keep chilled while making the filling.

2. Filling: Combine crab meat with spring onions, parsley and vermouth. Chill, covered for one hour.

3. Preheat oven to 200C/fan 180C. Sprinkle filling over bottom of pastry. Combine eggs, cream, and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Pour over crab mixture in the pan. Trim off excess pastry if necessary. Bake quiche for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 180C/fan 160C. and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes or until filling is set and golden. Serve hot or warm.

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SCOTTISH SALMON FLAN

To serve 2-3

INGREDIENTS:

- For pastry

50g medium oatmeal (blitz oat flakes in a food processor)

50g all-purpose flour

pinch salt

50g chilled unsalted butter, diced

- For filling

100g smoked salmon pieces

1 egg, beaten

125ml whipping cream

125g sour cream

1 tbsp snipped chives

PREPARATION:

1. Pastry: mix together the oatmeal, flour and salt. Rub in the butter, and then add two tbsp water and mix to a soft dough. Roll out the pastry and use it to line an 8-inch loose-bottomed quiche tin. Prick the base with a fork. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 200C/fan 180C. Line pastry with foil and weigh it down with a couple of handfuls of rice. Bake 10 minutes; lift out the foil and rice and bake a further five to 10 minutes until pastry is pale golden.

3. Scatter smoked salmon over the base of the quiche. Whisk together cream, sour cream, egg and chives. Season with salt and pepper, and pour over the salmon. Return the flan to the oven for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is set.