After recently reading My Life in France and watching the film Julie and Julia, I realized that I don't own a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. So I recently took it out of the library and read it from cover to cover.Now I'm glad that I don't own a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Don't get me wrong, I love Julia Child. I've seen all the episodes of The French Chef that one can get on DVD and online. She was knowledgeable, personable, and totally real on camera. Her story is awe inspiring. And sure, she convinced a lot of WASPy housewives to think differently about food at a time when ease and haste in the kitchen were paramount. That's pretty tremendous. But I personally don't want cream sauce on my fish or my mushrooms sauteed in a stick of butter. Or, for that matter, everything else slathered with a combination of the two. It's just not my bag.
Nonetheless, when recently charged with feeding my little cousin with something that she could help to make, I decided to thumb through Mastering in search of a recipe. She's a vegetarian, which eliminated a lot of Julia's favorites, and I settled on perhaps the most uninteresting thing in the entire tome - quiche. But Mastering really just provided the idea. I pretty well rendered it unrecognizable from its true French form. That's fine. I'm not a huge quiche person - I'll take an Italian frittata or Spanish tortilla any day. But these turned out well enough.
Broccoli/Cheddar and Spinach/Gruyere Quiche
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
-Make two 9-inch pie crusts using your favorite recipe (If you buy these frozen, which I admittedly did, follow Michael Pollan's rule about ingredients. A lot of the frozen ones are scary long in the ingredient department.)
-1-2 crowns of broccoli, stems removed, cut down into small florets
-Steam broccoli florets for five minutes; do not overcook
-1 bag or bunch baby spinach, washed
-Sautee 1 minced shallot in 1/2 tbsp; add baby spinach and cook until wilted, 5 minutes
-Drain spinach by pressing it against a colander to remove all moisture
-Shred 4 ounces of gruyere and 4 ounces of a good quality Wisconsin sharp cheddar
-Beat 4 large eggs in a bowl, add 1/2 cup milk or soymilk, and combine with broccoli and shredded cheddar
-Beat 4 large eggs in a bowl, add 1/2 cup milk or soymilk (plain) and combine with spinach and shredded gruyere.
-Pour filling mixtures into two pie crusts
-Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the quiche comes clean
Even though my first impression of Mastering was kind of a bust, I expect that I will indeed attempt one or two of Julia's recipes in the future. After all, someone whose kitchen is in the collection of the Smithsonian deserves a second glance.
Oh, and the melon wearing a chesire cat hat? Not suprisingly, the touch of a ten-year-old kitchen helper who for some reason wishes to see her new favorite piece of apparel on the internet.