The Strike is over, let's celebrate with a Quiche and the Weekly Menu

You may remember me moaning and groaning that my hens were not giving me any eggs for the past few weeks.  Of course, they went on strike right in the middle of the holiday baking season.  Well, the strike has now ended and I am getting a couple of eggs each day.  Management conceded to the hen's demands.  What were their demands you ask?  Well, they are the same as any employees....a safe and warm working environment with regularly scheduled breaks.  That is not too much to ask, is it?

You can see from the disparity in size that the new little girls started laying as well.  I have raised laying hens for many years and every year, when the weather starts to get colder, I have provided them with a heat lamp.  This year, I read that you should not do that as it prevents them from getting the feathers they need to stay warm.  So I didn't and they went on strike.  Last week, I broke down and put the heat lamp on...4 days later I got eggs and have gotten eggs each day since.  

Now that I had eggs again, I decided to celebrate by making a quiche.  I pulled out my Julia Child cookbook and followed her recipe for Quiche au Fromage de Gruyere but adapting it to include bacon.  I also used Julia's recipe for the pastry dough, however I did not partially blind bake it before adding the filling.

Quiche Lorraine au Fromage de Gruyere

 adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

Pastry Crust:

1 c. flour

dash salt

dash sugar

3/4 stick butter

2 T. chilled shortening

1/4 c. ice water

Place flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Cut the butter into smer with the processor running. Pulse several times until the dough starts to form a mass on the blade, add water by dribbles if needed until it does mass onto the blades.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and rapidly push the dough away from you with the heel of your hand to blend the fat and flour.  Gather into a ball, cover and refrigerate for an hour or up to 3 days.

When ready to use, roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper into a round 2" larger than your pie plate and about 1/4" thick.

Quiche:

6 slices bacon, diced and cooked crisp

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. half and half

salt and pepper to taste

a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese

Line pie plate with pastry, crimping edges.  Sprinkle the bacon on the bottom of the crust.

In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour into pie shell over bacon. Bake in a preheated 375* oven for 25-30 minutes or until quiche is puffed, browned and a knife inserted removes cleanly.  Print Recipe

I know it is a couple of days late but here is the Weekly Menu for this first week of December.  Stop back each day for photos and recipes.

Tonight I made a Beef Stroganoff from the Prime Rib Roast that I had left from Thanksgiving.  I used my normal recipe but with the prime rib instead of sirloin steak and I added the meat after the onions and mushrooms were cooked so it wouldn't get over done.

We will be finishing up leftovers all week long and then preparing for our next party on Saturday.

Saturday

Quiche Lorraine au Fromage de Gruyere

Sunday

Beef Stroganoff (using leftover beef)

Mixed Vegetables

Meatless Monday

Corn Chowder (leftover from Thanksgiving)

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday

Turkey Pot Pie (from leftover turkey and gravy)

Wednesday

Turkey Frame Soup (end of the leftovers, wooohooooo)

Thursday

Tranches de Jambon Morvandelle

Sauteed Spinach

Red Skin Potatoes

Fish Friday

Shrimp Scampi over Angel Hair Pasta