Tuesday, March 21, 2006

A magic mushroom quiche

Let me make something clear. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, nor tried any other substances that might be considered illegal in some countries (moderate consumption of alcohol is luckily legal in my part of the world). So obviously this is not a quiche of magic mushrooms. But last week one of my regular readers emailed me and said that s/he is feeling a bit low and a magic mushroom quiche might cheer him/her up. And a very dear friend of mine, T. refuses to eat mushrooms, unless they are of the abovementioned kind. So I thought that by calling my mushroom quiche a magic one might just cheer A. up and might have tricked T. to eat the quiche had he been around.

And, to be fair, I thought there was something harrypotteresque about those black trumpet chantarelle mushrooms I used anyway. Don't you think so? (Click on the photo to enlarge).

The recipe is loosely based on a mushroom and blue cheese quiche recipe from Valio that I've tried many times successfully. As I had some nice mushrooms* on hand this time, I didn't want to overshadow their earthy-musky flavour, so I omitted the blue cheese. I also incorporated the tarragon (usually in the filling) into the pie crust this time. Just like with pizza doughs, I find that seasoning the pie crust gives a small, but necessary lift to the whole dish.

A magic mushroom quiche
Serves 6-8



Pie crust:
100 grams butter
200 ml plain flour
1 tsp dried tarragon
0.25 tsp salt
2-3 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
200 grams fresh black trumpet chantarelles
1 medium onion (I used a large banana shallot)
2 Tbsp butter
a generous handful of fresh parsley
3 eggs, whisked
150 ml sour cream
salt
crushed black pepper

Mix the butter, tarragon, salt and flour with a knife until you get coarse crumbs, then add the cold water and mix the dough together. Let it cool in a fridge for about 20 minutes, then roll out and line a 22 cm pie dish with the pastry. Prick with a fork, then put into the freezer for 20 minutes (this reduces the need for blind baking, as the pastry will shrink only very little).
Pre-bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is light golden brown.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Clean the mushrooms thoroughly (if possible at all, avoid rinsing them and use a damp kitchen roll or brush), chop into smaller pieces.
Mince the onion. Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and fry gently for about 10 minutes, until onion starts to soften.
Add the mushrooms and sauté until some of the liquid evaporates (trumpet chantarelles are very dry anyway, but this may be necessary for button mushrooms).
Cool the mushroom and onion mixture.
Add the eggs, sour cream, finely chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the filling into the pre-baked pastry crust and bake for another 20-30 minutes, until the filling has set.

Cut into slices and serve with a salad.



* After complaining about the non-availability of wild mushrooms in Edinburgh, I've now discovered a small shop, Clarks Speciality Foods, in Bruntsfield, that sells various wild mushrooms at reasonable price. A new mushroom stock is brought in every Friday - straight from Paris markets apparently - and they try to vary the choice of mushrooms. So far I've bought pied bleu mushrooms and these black trumpet chantarelles. I'll be back for more soon.

Clarks Speciality Foods
202 Bruntsfield Place
Edinburgh EH10 4DF
Telephone: 0131 656 0500

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a magical sounding and looking meal! I'm glad you've found a satisfactory place to buy your mushrooms.

Nice, new look of your blog!

Paz

Journal Actif said...

Yum! This sounds so good. May be the word "magic" will make those of of my sons who think they don't like mushrooms eat the quiche. Harrypotteresque! Ha ha ha!!! The new word I need to convince them to taste at least!

Clivia said...

Mmm, I am into mushrooms (just the taste of it is magic enough for me!) right now, partly because it is soon chanterelle time again and our freezer is already full of mushrooms bags... and the cupboards full of dried mushrooms. I will keep this recipe in mind!

Nefritite said...

Hi Pille
Your post about magic mushrooms made me smile... I have to admit I'm a fan of them, not of the taste but the effects :)

ps. today I enjoyed mushroom soup at work for lunch

-Anita

x said...

hi Pille! thanks for stopping by my blog. I had found your blog through other people's blogrolls. I love Edinburgh, it's my favourite place in the world (even without wild mushrooms :)) I was always inpsired to cook when i was there.
I'm going to try this quiche here and tell you how i did

little pomelo said...

Woww.. mushroom quiche looks so delicious!

Joycelyn said...

hi pille, very cute :) but even without the hallucinogenic agents, i'll bet your lovely quiche was totally addictive and nobody could stop at one slice ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Pille - love black trumpets too and I can almost taste your gorgeous quiche! I hope you have a wonderful time in London, I really wanted to join but will be stuck here next week... looking forward to your write-up, take care. keiko

Pille said...

Paz - thank you! I think I prefer this spring-like look to the previous one, though I'm still looking for "the one".

Zoubida - exactly my thought. Some cheating - as in calling a mushroom pie a "magic mushroom pie" - should be allowed. After all, isn't everything allowed in war and love and kitchen?!?

Clivia - I understand that these black trumpet chantarelles are very popular in Sweden and Finland? I've never had them in Estonia, though they should grow there as well I imagine..

Nefritite - really???!!!? You naughty thing!
PS Congratulations on getting married - I didn't know it was in the cards!

Hi Chloe - thank you! Edinburgh is wonderful indeed - it's a really easy city to fall in love with.. I'll be making your feta and mushroom tartalettes very soon! And welcome to my blog, of course:)

Strawberry - it was lovely, despite being so simple. But I had some really great and flavoursome mushrooms, so it worked perfectly. Should I be using plain cultivated mushrooms, I'd add other ingredients.

J - I definitely couldn't stop at the first slice - but then I'm rather fond of mushrooms. Mmm - maybe these black trumpets contain some addictive hallucinogens after all?

Keiko - wild mushrooms are wonderful, aren't they! I'm looking forward to my trip to London and meeting some of the other foodbloggers. It's a pity you can't come on Tuesday:(

Stephanie said...

Hehe ... I like mushrooms, take it whichever way you want ...

I remember having to do the inventory of a hotel and the chef asked me if he could put magic mushrooms under the purchase inventory. LOL.

I want some magic mushroom quiche!!!