Blue Cheese, Salami & Pepperoni

We still remember the taste of Blue Cheese in the Quattro Formaggi of Warung Italia. The pungent distinctive flavor of Blue Cheese, when mixed with other cheese and proper pizza dough taste heaven. I was prepared to make a Quattro Formaggi, when I found only 3 kind of cheese in the fridge. Insisting on having Blue Cheese on top of a pizza, I made a Triple Formaggi instead. Some trapped air pocket screw the appearance of the pizza, but didn't not affect the taste. Complemented with the slight salty taste of cheddar, the cheese mix is excellent.

The 2nd pan of pizza is requested by Kiko: Salami pizza. The salami wrinkle a little bit when baked - there should be a better way to bake a salami pizza

And the final pan of pizza was decorated with round of Pepperoni. Among all pizza topping I've used, I'm still impressed with the salty taste of pepperoni, which has become my favorite pizza topping.

Photo of our pizza can be found at http://www.pbase.com/bennyc/pizza_venture

Quiche Lorraine : The Guilty Pleasure

I still remember the shabby old patisserie on one famous shopping centre in the old days where I used to hang around after school. This shop quite small with 2-3 round table for coffee cupping and usually deserted. People preferred to take away their pastry instead of sitting down and have chit chat. The display itself was my own feast -young girl with much appetite- : danish pastry with peach, plain croissant, fruit pie, chicken curry pie, strawberry danish, quiche lorraine, etc etc. But the “buttery” smell along the alley gave extra pleasure for me, like my cat when driven by her whiskas pouch dinner.

Instead of buying their famous croissant, I fell in love with the quiche. Small flan pastry, yellow tone with brown spots, the appearance made me drooling already. The creamy taste filling and ham strips combine with delicious outer crust pie made my first bite lasts forever until now. From that time, I used to search or scanned any quiche lorraine displayed when visiting other pattiserie or bakery shop. And I could not find any better than theirs. Some of the pastry maker now bake them unproperly, either too soft or too crusty. And the most intolerable thing: substitute proper cream.

In search of the original one, I pledge myself to explore the recipe from my cookbooks on shelf. Our first quiche turn into overcooked pastry flan. As written, gas marked on 180 C and turn out baking time extended to almost an hour with the overcooked result. We suggest you to set the temperature 200 or 220 C to speed up the process. The tricky parts lies on how to lining perfect pastry over the base. It is one of most important thing because if you failed, the cream mixtures will flow all over the base.

Quiche Lorraine

This open tart originated in the Lorraine region around 16th century. The name quiche come from the german word “kuchen” meaning cake. A quiche can contain many fillings but a quiche lorraine is traditionally made with cream, egg, smoked bacon and is considered a classic of french cuisine

Prep time - 30 min
Cooking time - 1 hr 5 min
Serve 4-6

½ quantity shortcrust pastry (separate recipe)
1 egg beaten

Filling

Oil for cooking
180 g smoked bacon, rind removed and cut into thin strips
3 eggs
Nutmeg to taste
250 ml cream
80 g gruyere cheese grated

1. Lightly grease a 22 x 3.5 cm loose bottomed flan tin. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 3 mm and line the prepared thin. Preheat oven to moderate 180 C, bake blind for 25 minutes or until firm. Remove the beans and paper, and brush the bottom of the pastry with the beaten egg. Bake for another 7 min.
2. To make the filling, heat a little oil in a frying pan. Saute the bacon, drain on paper towels and set aside. Whisk the eggs with the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the cream and strain throuh a sieve.
3. Sprinkle the bottom of the pastry with the bacon and cheese. Gently pour in the egg mixture until the pastry is three quarters full. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the filling is well coloured and is set. Serve hot.

Although we have to learn more to lining proper pastry crust, the taste resembles of guilty pleasure kind. Creamy, buttery, with legitimate smoky ham. Bon appetite!

The 6th Pizza

The recipe for the pizza dough called for 6 servings, and last weekend, we only baked 5 pizzas. If you ever wonder what happen to the 6th, I just baked it this evening. I made a progress in so-called my pizza chef career: This time no rolling pin used :D. Although.... I stretch the dough a little bit too thin in some part that, it tears when I tried to move it from the pan.


The Pepperoni is a little bit burnt, thanks to the dead clock in my dining room that screw my baking time. The combination of Mozzarella, Gruyere, and Cheddar should gave a good taste, if mixed with proper portion. The Gruyere gave a slight cow taste, cheddar gave the salty, and the mozzarella bind them all. The mushroom is unnecessary, it ruins the whole appearance of the pizza.

Next time... I'll toss the pizza dough....

Pizza Weekend

In our last trip to Bali, we fell in love with Warung Italia. As the name said, it is an Italian restaurant, serving pasta, pizza and other Italian dishes. It is the pizzas that impress us, with its flaky crusty and delicious cheese. Not only the taste, but also the fancy of the chef preparing the pizza crust; He tossed the round pizza dough up in the air. Obsessed with the taste and the fancy, I pledge myself to made one.

It does not take long to find the recipe from Rosa of Daring Bakers. I went shopping, went home with high spirit, which diminished once I started making the dough. The dough, which will be the base of the pizza, is the key thing that can make or break a pizza. It looks too wet, yet I’m not confident enough to add more flour. So with hesitant, I split the dough into 6, cover it in olive oil, and put it in the fridge, while crossing my finger. I even asked Kiko to cross her finger too.

So there come the moment of truth, after a slight sleepless night of having 6 wasted pizza doughs. I pulled one of the dough and start stretching it, hoping that I can toss it like the fancy chef at Bali did. My first attempt failed, second attempt failed, third attempt, the dough fell into the floor. I gave up and use the rolling pin instead.

We arrange the topping of our first pizza: tomato paste, pepperoni, bell pepper, mozzarella and bacon bits. We throw the pizza into the pre-heated oven, waiting anxiously while looking through the oven. Fifteen minutes later, we feel a slight hope as we saw the sizzling mozzarella. Well, at least the topping is delicious enough.


Our first slice and bite certainly cheer us and remove all doubt. While not comparable to the pizza in Bali, the dough is certainly better than edible. It is excellent, especially for our first attempt. We are anxious and immediately start the 2nd pan, and get even better result with flatter pizza dough.

At the end of the day, we are eating the 3rd pan of pizza, and the next day, I complete our weekend pizza venture with 2 more pans, for a total of 5 pans of pizzas. Most of the pan won’t last for more than 30 minutes.