Mission Impossible

Littlej is an enthusiastic student

Actually, on her report card her science teacher used the word Boisterous- but in a good way, she did get an 'A'

One of those kiddies who love going to school, love their subjects, and love their teachers. She also loves extra-curriculars and throws herself into them entirely without thinking of the consequences when they all coincide.

This is one of those weeks

Three days this week are off classes-  One at a Peer Review training day on Sustainability, One as a full day practice for an Academic tournament (they won silver last year for all Australasia), One at a Junior United Nations (training for International Crisis Management- will it stop her arguing with her sister though?)
One evening at her self defence class (in case International Peace Keeping Talks break down perhaps)
One evening at a further rehearsal for the Tournament
All day on the Weekend at the Tournament
Plus 2 assignments due, including a hand crafted example of Medieval history- in this case making a portion of chain mail armour... link by link by link by link by link.......

littlej is confident she can handle it all in her stride
Mum is yet to be convinced

Anyway, my Mission Impossible this week is to keep her healthy, happy and well fed- not as easy as usual with so much running around and odd appointments. The answer to this dilemma was obvious: Impossible Pie

A couple of minutes to make, thrown together in one bowl with the crust forming Impossibly while it bakes. Tasty hot or cold, lunch or dinner- even breakfast (well it is eggs and bacon right) Imagine the possibilities!

Basic Pie

1/3 cup Gluten free Flour
4 Eggs
1 1/2 cup lactose free Milk
1 1/2 cup Cheese/Cheesy style substitute like soy cheese (Mini Chol available at Coles is good)
1 cup Bacon pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste
(Various Extras to taste)


One of the great things about this pie/quiche is that you can mix and match the filling to what you have on hand
I've included spinach and spring onion, but you could use a tin of salmon, grated carrot or zucchini, shredded cooked chicken or whatever happens to take your fancy at the time

Pop the flour, eggs, milk and seasonings into a bowl and give them a quick whisk until nice and smooth with no lumpy bits

Just like this one

Add in the bacon, cheese and Various Extras, then stir through

Pour into a well greased oven proof dish, just making sure the filling ingredients are well distributed so share-sies are fair-sies

Bake at 200*C for 40 mins, then check to see if the pie is nice and set without too much wobble, but give another 5 minutes if needed
Can anyone spot my deliberate mistake? I purposely left mine in for that extra 5 minutes to show you what-not-to-do. I'm nice like that :)

......Mine obviously didn't need that extra 5minutes... or the previous 5 minutes either

I blame my new Microwave/Oven/Grill thingy for the burnished top as I'm still getting used to it and am finding out I need to drop the temperature just a bit as compared to my beautiful big oven.
My microwave recently gave up on me, and I decided that  Convection combi was the way to go. There's nothing wrong with my other oven but I thought the little one would be handy if I just wanted to cook a small dish. It is- but I'm still figuring it out :)
BTW the top wasn't burnt, it's just the spinach bits that look really dark- but I caught it just in time!

Let's just ignore the top for the moment shall we, and concentrate on looking at how the flour sort of sifted down to the bottom of the pie to create a firm base. Obviously not flaky and crispy, but perfect for holding it's form and offering stability to the pie

Despite the extra time in the oven, the pie is lovely and creamy inside and was a big hit with littlej stuffing it down at 4pm for an early dinner to hold her off until she was back at 8.30pm for more. It was also handy for holding cold wedges one handed while grabbing her bags and running out the door, and nice to eat warmed up with the new oven on microwave mode for lunch

Mission Complete. Impossible?.... Not with this recipe!



Pie flipped over for photos to show you how the base looks (not to hide the burnt bits, I promise :P )

So Dear Readers, have you ever had an Impossible Week, and have you had trouble adjusting to a new appliance before?











.

I'm On A Roll!

Flushed with the success of my Sponge Roll earlier in the week,





I was inspired to revisit an old friend of mine, the Rolled Spinach Quiche.

I'm craving some fresh tasting greens and this is stuffed full of greeny goodness. Watercress has a nice bit of iron-y tasting zinginess, and spinach has a mild sweetness that balances it out. The winter is starting to get to me, and a plain salad is not as exciting as it could be, so getting greens by the mouthful in a quiche is much more appealing.  Although this is a cold meal, I'll eat it sitting in the feeble rays of sunlight struggling to break through the sleet, and dream of the warmer days to come......

The very original recipe for this came from an old Womens Weekly Cookbook, and I first made it back in the '80's. Its a cute, if somewhat dated, way of presenting a crustless quiche, and the green colour is quite stunning when it's sliced.


1 packet of Frozen Spinach
1 bunch of Watercress
1cup of lactose free Milk
1/2 cup of gluten free Flour
5 Eggs
50 gr hard goat cheese
3 tablespoons of Butter
Salt and Pepper

Defrost the spinach patiently in a fine mesh strainer lined with a chux cloth, and squeeze out all the excess water. Or... defrost the spinach IMpatiently by throwing it whole in a pan over medium heat and stirring until all the water has evaporated leaving you with a nice moist paste.

Chop or process the zingy watercress finely.

In a pan (by the bits of green, you can see I re-cycled the spinach pan) melt the butter then add in the flour and cook it off for about a minute to get rid of the 'raw' taste.

Whisk in all the milk, and let it come to the boil and thicken. Take it off the heat and cool down quite a bit.




In the meantime, separate your eggs and grate your goat cheese.

To the milk and flour base, add in the spinach, watercress, egg yolks, cheese and seasoning and stir until all combined into a lovely green goopiness.

Beat the egg whites on their own until they reach stiff peaks.







Mix a spoonfull of them into the other mix to lighten it, then gently fold in the rest without knocking out all the air bubbles in the whites.

Spread it out evenly into the lined pan, and bake at 200*C for 20 minutes.

Turn it out the same way as you did for the Sponge Roll (see step by step in the previous post) Then roll up in a clean teatowl, place on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.

Open the quiche out gently, it might have a few deep creases, but don't worry, you'll cover them up with a yummy filling anyway.

Now spread with a yummy filling- I used soft goat cheese whipped with a tbs lactose free milk until light and smooth, roast capsicum, avocado cubes, smoked salmon and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cream cheese would be great too. Pop into the fridge until nice and firm then cut into groovy green slices.


I served this with a nice little salad for crunch, and some slow roasted tomatoes to add sweetness and a touch of moisture to the whole dish.

Well Readers, what do you think- is the spiral still in style,



or is it a throwback to an earlier culinary era? And can we help it make a comeback?