Hello Bakers,
Welcome to the blog post for Ingredient Function Friday's Episode 5 - Pastry flour.
Today I used pastry flour to make Pate Brisee is flaky pie dough's fancy French cousin. It is a perfect companion recipe to today's show.
We are using the dough to make a quiche. Quiche is back - at least - it is at 5250 Cafe in North Hollywood. I am selling two a day. And that is great because they are fun and easy to make.
This dough can also be used for pies and tarts - it is versatile and a great dough to have in your repertoire.
The dough does need to rest a minimum of 30 minutes before rolling out so that the flour particles can hydrate and the gluten (that we have activated by mixing can relax). It can also be made the day before and stored in the refrigerator or frozen up to one month.
We will be partially baking this crust before filling it. That way we will not get a "soggy bottom" as former Great British Baking Show judge and baking icon, Mary Berry is so fond of saying. When she retires, Bakers, I want her job.
Quiche can be baked in a pie pan or in a tart pan with a removable bottom. I am using a tart pan for this one - today's flavors are bacon, cheddar and scallion. You can get very creative with quiche. Of course, the classic Quiche Lorraine (named for Alsace-Lorraine) is ham, gruyere cheese and a pinch of nutmeg in the custard. But you can do anything you want bakers - just make sure if you are using ingredients like are on the wet side (like spinach and tomatoes) that they are well drained. Whatever you are using you need 4-5 ounces of that ingredient - just to make sure that each flavor is represented in every bite.
If making quiche for brunch or a light dinner - know that (if the dough is made) you can have this on the table in 1 hour. Watch for my five star technique in the body of the recipe....
Pate Brisee with pastry flour...(I used Arrowhead Mills)
Equipment: large mixing bowl, bowl scraper or pastry blender **you can also make this in a food processor or mixer - let me know in the comments or via email (bakingwithcolette@gmail.com) if you have questions on how to do that.
Happy Baking! Colette
Ingredients:
284g (10 ounces) pastry or all purpose flour
6g (3/4 teaspoon) salt
4g (1/2 teaspoon) sugar
1g baking powder
170g (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed or grated and chilled
1 large egg (48g)
1 ounce cold milk.
Pate Brisee Mise en Place
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.
- Add the butter and cut it into the flour with the bowl scraper or pastry blender until it looks like coarse meal. The pieces of butter will be very small - you may have to use you fingers in the last few minutes to break the butter down into smaller pieces - but if you have hot hands - stick with the bowl scraper.
Cut in butter - texture is like coarse meal
3. Whisk together the milk and the egg. Add to flour and butter mixture. Using the bowl scraper fold the ingredients together, using the side of the bowl - it is almost as if you are mashing them together. As you work the moisture through the dough - it will form a cohesive mass. Scrape the dough together, if the edges of the dough are scrappy use the heel of your hand to smooth them out. This technique is called fraisage in French. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. The dough can be made the day before and refrigerated or frozen for up to one month.
Rolling out and partially baking the crust: Equipment: rolling pin, all purpose or bread flour for dusting, pie pan or a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom - if using a tart pan wrap it in foil, parchment paper and pie weights or beans.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
1. Dust your work surface with all purpose or bread flour. Place the dough on the floured surface and tap it with the rolling pin, turning it a quarter turn every so often so that there is no stickage. If the dough sticks to the work surface it will tear - keep throwing flour underneath the dough if it sticks. Once it is 1/4" thick then roll the dough until it is 1/8" thick. Roll the dough onto your rolling pin and carefully drop it on to the pie or tart pan. Make sure the dough is flat against the sides of the pan and crimp the top edge if using a pie plate (you may have to trim it) or if using a tart pan trim the dough flush to the top. Line the dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or beans. Chill for 20 minutes if you have time - this helps the crust retain it's shape.
Tapped to 1/4 inch - this helps the gluten not get over activated and then shrink back in the pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. The crust should have no color but should not look raw. Remove the beans and bake for 5-7 more minutes or until the shell looks baked and not raw.
Ready for the pan
Quiche Filling:
3 eggs
8 ounces heavy cream
good pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper
a few drops of tabasco sauce - optional
6 ounces bacon, cubed, cooked and drained
5 ounces cubed or grated cheddar cheese
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Quiche mise en place
- Whisk together eggs, cream, salt, pepper and tabasco.
- Arrange bacon, cheddar and scallions on the dough.
- Pour in custard - fill until the top of the pan. There will be custard left over. We will use this for our five star technique.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. Remove from oven. The custard will have formed a light skin, break into the center and pour in as much of the remaining custard as the it will hold. ****
- Return the quiche to the oven and bake and additional 20-25 minutes or until the custard is set. If the crust is getting too dark and the custard is not set. Then reduce the temperature 25 degrees and cover lightly with a piece of foil, shiny side down and finish baking.
****This is my five star technique with quiche. I learned this when I was a cook at a five star hotel in Boston back in the 1990s. Quiche was served in the impossibly chic cafe and the executive chef wanted the quiche to be more of a souffle en croute (crust) then a flat everyday quiche - so the "topping off at 14 minutes technique" was born.