Quiche, Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie, Jam Tarts

Decided to make some pastry today and make a quiche and, strawberry and rhubarb pie. With the leftover scraps of pastry made some jam tarts.

I made 1 1/2lbs of pastry, using 1 1/2 lbs flour, 6oz margarine, 6 oz lard, salt and cold water. Nothing exciting about that. Just rub the fats into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add enough water to make a stiff dough. I divided my dough into thirds, placed each third in cling wrap and put it in the fridge to rest for a couple of hours. 30 minutes is long enough to let the pastry rest. Letting it rest, helps to prevent shrinkage when cooking.

I rolled out the dough. I broke my quiche dish the other week, so I have been using a pie plate for making quiches in. I used an oval dish to make the strawberry rhubarb pie in.




When making a quiche you have to blind bake the pastry. Which means you partially bake the pastry case before adding the ingredients. I prick the case all over, then line it with parchment paper and add some ceramic baking beans to weigh down the pastry.





I bake the pastry case for 15 minutes at 425oF with the baking beans in it. After 15 minutes I remove the baking beans and parchment paper and cook for another 5 minutes.



Turn down the oven to 375 oF. Add the ingredients for the quiche to the partially cooked pastry case. I added shredded cheese. Partially cooked red and yellow onion, and chopped up bacon. For the liquid I use 3 eggs and enough milk or cream to make around 1 1/2 cups of liquid or 400ml. Add salt and pepper to the liquid and any other seasoning that you like. I sliced up a tomato and put that on top.



For the strawberry and rhubarb pie, I had some frozen strawberries that I thawed and sliced. I had rhubarb in the garden that I peeled and sliced. I tossed the fruit in a couple large spoonfuls of sugar and cornstarch. I wanted to thicken the juices that is why I used cornstarch. After I put the top on the pie, I cut a couple of holes in the pie lid and brushed it with some of the unseasoned egg mixture, and sprinkled some sugar on it. That makes the pastry top a nice golden colour and slightly crispy.




I had some pastry scraps left so I made jam tarts with the scraps.

They all went into the oven at the same time.




The jam tarts took about 30 minutes to cook.



The quiche nearly an hour.



The pie was probably an hour and 15 minutes, only because it was such a deep pie.



The results, yummy!!!!