[They tell me it's] Easy Quiche/Tart Crust

I learned how to bake quiche- real quiches in France, where, instead of a gooey, cheesy filling, you will find light, fluffy eggs with nicely roasted or sauteed veggies. I was in France last year for 7 months- from January to August of 2010. I studied in Nantes, which wasn't really my favorite place and after, went down to the Alps to WWOOF, or volunteer in exchange for food and housing, on two various farms.

At the first farm, which was in the Upper Alps (Les Hautes Alpes), I stayed at a woman's home with her pre-teen son. She had a really old house in the mountains overlooking a valley. It was an absolutely stunning place. It literally just took my breath away every day. As for farming, she had two gardens and did a lot of composting for mulch for her gardens. She went hiking fairly often with her sister, who often laughed when I spoke just one word of French. Luckily, there were 2 other WWOOFers there from the US, both of whom were really nice. Southern hospitality kind of nice. It was a bit of a culture shock on both ends- being thrown into an incredible, rural mountain village, still covered in snow, as I had literally just missed an early June snowstorm, and two southern Americans who just finished their semester in the US. All this talk of what was happening in America, and I was still trying to figure out what had just happened the past 4 months of my life in Nantes.

The woman I was working with turned out to be a complete you-know-what. I'm not quite sure what I did to deserve her treatment, but I must say, the woman cooked the best food I have ever had. Every day, both lunch and dinner were a huge production. I remember the rabbit that I ate- sweet, dark, and succulent. With fresh made gnocchi and local cheese melted on top. I have everything she made written down in my journal, actually. But that's back at home. So all I can give you here is her crust. So simple. So easy. That's all she said, before she left the other American girl and I to try and make our own quiche for dinner one evening while she set out. 300 grams of flour and 150 grams of butter. You mix it together until it feels like sand and then add a cup of water.

Easy enough... well an hour and a half later, we're still adding flour and butter to the crust, trying to make it stick together. It was not a pretty sight. The problem was either that we put in warm water... did she say warm or cold? And a whole cup. At one time.

I've been working on this crust recipe since then, trying different variations in flour and amount of water- which I just tend to eyeball now until it feels good. At the next farm where I worked, I stayed at a gîte, a sort of bed+breakfast and dinner in the Lower Alps. The scenery wasn't as drastic; it was more wheat fields and tractors than huge, snow-capped mountains, but I was in a village with no more than 12 homes outside of Mens. I was introduced to a French WWOOFer, who was also the cook for the gîte, and had experience working as a cook in Ireland at a French restaurant. Funny how that happens. He made the best flourless chocolate cake, of which I have the recipe in NJ. But he also made the crust the same way: about 300 g flour to 150 g butter, plus chilled water added by the tablespoon until it could all stick together and roll into a nice, slightly wet ball before it was chilled and then rolled out on a floury surface.

So that's what I've been doing since, only in American measurements. It's always a 2:1 ratio of flour:butter.

Ingredients:

For 2 crusts
about 3 cups all-purpose flour; I use whole wheat
11 tbsp butter
a pinch of salt

Cut the butter into cubes and put in a big mixing bowl. Add the flour. Mix well. I admit that I always use my hands, not only because I like to feel the texture, but I don't have a food processor. Mix until it feels like wet sand and the big clumps of butter are out. Add 2-3 tbsp water. Mix well. Continue adding water in small quantities until the dough begins to stick together and you can roll it into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. When ready, roll out dough on floured surface or use hands to spread dough evenly until it forms 1/4 inch crust and put into a well greased pan.

I recommend using this crust for quiche recipes. You can use it for sweet tarts, too, if you want, but I will post a slightly different recipe for sweet tarts. I always use whole wheat flour, another weird thing I do- I am slightly afraid of white flour and I refuse to use bleached flour. It's healthier to use whole wheat or another hearty grain and more natural, as well. I also love the taste, which may take some getting used to.