Smoked Fish Quiche

I really don’t want to talk about Quiche.

Do I have to?

Are you going to make me?

I also don’t particularly want you to look at this picture.

You’re looking right at it aren’t you?

See a problem?

You’re seeing the problem, aren’t you? In fact you’re seeing multiple problems. Take a moment. There you go.

Want to know what the problem is?

I poured some of the egg mixture into the side of the pan, that’s why it’s all burnt on one side.

want to know what else I did wrong?

I rolled the pastry to thick, and it’s kind of uneven.

You know why?

Because I’m impatient. And I’m not a Capricorn.

So I don’t want to talk about it. Just let it be. Like The Beatles.

One more thing. This quiche is a pretty good one. I’ve been making it for years. But you’ve gotta like smoked fish, otherwise don’t bother.

Enough already with the damn quiche!

Smoked Fish Quiche

serves 8 or 4 really hungry people

For the pastry:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup self-raising flour

1 tsp dry mustard (I used Coleman’s Hot English Mustard)

90g cold butter

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)

For the Filling:

400g smoked fish (I used a box of frozen haddock)

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 bunch of spring onions, sliced

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

3 xl free-range eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

Salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

For the pastry, sift the flours and mustard into a bowl, rub in the butter with your fingers, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add sour cream and then enough lemon juice to mix to a firm dough. Roll out to fit your dish or tin – try to roll it quite thinly. Trim the edges, cover pastry with greaseproof paper.  Pour some dried beans or rice over the paper to evenly cover the pastry in your dish. Bake at 200C for  7 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 7 minutes. This process is called ‘baking blind’.  Go figure.

Reduce the heat to 180C.

For the filling, poach the fish in boiling water. Once cooked, drain and flake, being sure to remove any little bones. Combine the fish with the chopped pepper, spring onions and cheese. In a large jug, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and milk. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.  Spread the fish mixture over the pastry case and carefully pour in the egg mixture. Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes.