(I apologise for being AWOL at the minute: I am part of the team who have started Parent.ie – a website which is “a new take on parenting websites, covering a wide range of topics relevant to real Irish parents” It is wonderful, but takes up a lot of time for me at the minute as it’s a huge learning curve and my brain is at a constant go-slow… only a few weeks left before Baby makes an appearance 🙂 I’ve several posts half written for my own, badly neglected blog here… I’ll try get myself in gear over the next week… but until then, enjoy some easy cooking!)
I’m not sure about you, but these days, I want easy, flavoursome food with minimal effort (maybe I should clarify and say I want this all the time, but there are days I’m willing to put in some extra effort)
I also want something that everyone will eat and won’t break the bank. These are vastly changeable; I find quiche to be the most wonderful “feck-it” bake of all. So there I shall start…:
Quiche
I usually make my own pastry, but when I’m feeling less virtuous (and pastry, after all, is not rocket science, nor is it difficult to throw together) I unroll some that I keep in the fridge. I buy puff pastry when I’m in Lidl; it’s not expensive, keeps a week or two in the fridge and is ready when you are.
In a buttered tin (I have a fluted tin), I press the pastry into the tin, then bake blind using chick peas as baking beans I keep for such a purpose. While it is baking (10 minutes) I root around for bits to fire in: cheese (even stuff that’s not looking great, a bit of judicious shaving of mouldy bits and I grate it up. Mould on cheese isn’t that bad. I’ve decided anyway) I had a wedge of brie I used last week, just cut off the rind and chopped it up. It was rather fine.
I always have a few tomatoes, even two or three cherry ones chopped up. And I always have an onion. Any other veg like courgettes or peppers; meat like bacon, chicken, ham can all find a place in a quiche. I lightly fry up these (in coconut oil, delicious) especially the onion.
In a large-ish bowl I whip up anything up to three eggs (whatever I have) and some creme fraiche or cream or sour cream or natural yougurt (I told you this was a feck-it recipe) You are aiming for about a cup of the dairy. (I welcome suggestions of non-dairy that I could use!) Into the eggy mix, I stir in the cheeses and any ingredients that aren’t cooked.
In the baked pastry case, I put the onion and any cooked bits, then the eggy mix on top. I give it a quick stir around and fire it into a moderate oven to cook for 20 minutes or until set in the middle. So simple and so delicious **salivating**
Spud Bake
This evolved from something Jane over at That Curious Love Of Green posted on her Facebook page a while ago. She grated courgette into some potatoes to bake them. I tried it, and it was indeed incredibly creamy and delicious. I quite fancy those small salad potatoes at the moment, and they are perfect in this.
In a large baking dish, I chop up the salad potatoes in quarters or halves. Into this I add some, or all, depending on what I have:
grated courgette (or any other veg)
finely chopped onion
spring onion
garlic
grated cheese (If I am adding cheese, I add it near the end)
… or anything else you fancy. Enjoy!
Oh yum! These dishes look delicious. Ger x
That looks scrumptious…thanks for sharing!!
LOVE this dish, will be borrowing your wisdom soon. Do you ever do spanish omlettes? A very feck-it dinner.