Quiche La Poodle?

 

I remember back in the 80’s when the B52s were an up and coming pop band.  One of their hits, besides the infamous Love Shack, was Quiche Lorraine.  It’s actually a song about a dog that ran away. At one point he calls the dog Quiche La Poodle.  For me, it’s a song that is on auto-play in my mind and online when I make quiche.  Odd, I know.   However, from this song stems some damn good quiche creations!

So, this particular quiche making episode deserves the title “Quiche La Poodles”, plural for two kinds.

Quiche is pretty much the easiest thing to make, IMO (in my opinion) as “some” would say.  You can buy a pie crust, or make a simple buttery crust.  Either works well but I tend to try to stay with homemade crust as I can control what ingredients go in the crust, hence, what goes in to my mouth!  Along with homemade ingredients, I also walk out back to see how many eggs Richie, Cheetoh, or Mimi has laid.  Their eggs produce light fluffy goodness alone, fried, or in quiches!

I like to dig through my kitchen and refrigerator to see what is on hand.  If I’m truly “planning” a quiche I’ll think of ingredients that flow and go well together.  For these particular quiches I went on a whim and concocted a bouquet of what some may call “the kitchen sink”.

 

The first up are ingredients for Quiche La Poodle #1:

·         5-6 Fresh eggs

·         (2) Trader Joe’s Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage

·         Handful of sundried tomatoes

·         Few cloves of garlic

·         Handful of fresh basil

·         Handful of mushrooms, sliced

·         Handful of mixed shredded cheese; parmesan, fontina, asiago, and mild provolone

 

Quiche La Poodle #2:

·         5 – 6 Fresh eggs

·         (2) Trader Joe’s Spicy Jalapeno Chicken Sausage

·         Handful of chopped zucchini, sauté with red onion

·         Handful of Italian Parsley

·         Handful of fresh basil

·         Handful of mushrooms, sliced

·         Half red onion, chopped, sauté with zucchini

·         Handful of mixed shredded cheese; parmesan, fontina, asiago, and mild provolone

 

Pour ingredients in to pie crust and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Check it at the 30 minute mark and evaluate if it needs 15 – 20 more minutes.  

 

Voila! Quiche La Poodle!

Try it out and let me know how it goes!

Confessions of a Dough Boy: Part 1 "Pizza Dough"

Have you ever felt something so malleable, soft, squishy, and a little firm all at the same time?  Wait don't answer that.  I'm really talking about dough; a mixture of flour, water, and sometimes yeast. This gooey goodness has been a staple item since ancient history.  Dough Boy has been personally perfecting his batches for many years.  It's good ... actually it's amazing!  However, I must confess.  I have a particular obsession with this particular "dough boy" ... but hey what can I say?  He's good with his hands ... I mean baking which is a hands-on sort of thing.

Let's take a visual tour of Dough Boy's basic pizza dough perfection.  It's a simple "no knead" (although a few folds and spins are necessary) recipe that can be kept in the refrigerator or freezer and pulled out when you feel the desire for homemade pizza or flat bread.

Most of the recipes you find for pizza dough are basically the same.  However, using a scale to precisely measure the ingredients makes for pizza perfection.  Dough Boy has come up with his own measurements for pizza dough success.

See below.

 

Flour: 1020g

Salt: 21g

Yeast:  9g

Water:  765g

 

Mix away!

 

 

The consistency should look like the image shown below.

 

 

Remember to lightly dust the surface where your dough will be formed.  It doesn't take much flour ...



 



Dough Boy recommends to repeat the rest of the steps below three times.

Fold the dough over, about one time each side.

Form in to a round mound.  Then, take it for a few quick spins ...

Cover with a clean cloth and set for 10 minutes.

Remember to repeat the above three steps two more times (3 times total).

 

Use immediately, refrigerate if you plan to use in a few days, or freeze for later.

 

Freezing tip:  Section dough in to (4) 450g portions.  Place each portion in to a one quart sealed baggy.

 

Pure. Simple. Pizza dough perfection.

 

Need pizza topping ideas?  Post your requests in the comment section.



Another Food & Photography Blog?

Why am I here?  I'm passionate about traveling and culinary adventures near and far.  I also have this creative tug in my mind that continually pours out made-up imagery and describing words that can sometimes distract me from my everyday life.
 
I ask myself but why start a blog...especially about travel and food?  Aren't there a million resources for the world to log on to and explore?  Of course there are, but they would not be MY explorations, MY famed food possessions, and images from MY mind.  Plus, let's face it.  I want that pull, that creative explosion that comes to mind every time I sink my teeth in to a bite of something.  The popular and the less traveled cultures and places excite me.  They make me think.  They make me "be". 

Documenting and photographing food and life around the world is truly MY passion.  Plus, who knows...maybe my favorite food journalist and chef extraordinaire, Anthony Bourdaine, will think my findings are interesting and entertaining!

Pizza at 2:00am in NYC - always good!