h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Salmon and Zucchini Quiche - A87913326
Author: Superfrenchie - U9937105

Ok, I haven't done this in a loooong time.
Be honest, be frank, be nice. Please
Also, try it out, and tell me what you think.

Sounds delicious!

Brilliant! I will pass this on to Hoggetts, they have plenty of eggs.

Just so the Americans can keep up - thanks for doing the oven conversion - my suggested additions:

230 g (8 ounces) to 280 g (10 ounces)
(900 g or so, about 2 pounds)
180g (6-ounce) pack of smoked salmon
(20 to 30cl, or 8-10 ounces)
27cm diameter (11-inch)

2 to 3 mm slices (about 1/8 inch)

Thanks, both!
I'll add those tomorrow.

Well done!

Maybe you could add a few alternatives. As the introductory paragraph says, a quiche can be just anything with an egg-and-cream mixture poured over it.

The usual mixture is a combination of a vegetable and meat or fish.

- other smoked fish
- ham
- bacon
- shrimps

- peas
- peppers
- sweet corn
- spring onions
- onions
- leeks

I've just realised that as you are supposed to use British English on this site, you should call it a courgette. My mother, for one, would have no idea what a zucchini is. It didn't register with me at first because the Germans call them zucchinis. (Although they pronounce it wrong)

I'd certainly have to think for a bit to figure out what a zucchini is (or is it a zucchino?).

Yes, they're called courgettes in British English. We have a load of them at the moment because our courgette plants are in flower.

Oh, yes, we forgot about the courgettes! They sound like Edwardian high-stepping dancers....'Tonight, here on a limited engagement: the courgettes! Doing their famous Can-Can in the Kitchen....'

Can we switch please to 'courgettes (zucchini)'? You only have to use 'zucchini' once - they'll figure it out. But I'd put both 'courgettes' and 'zucchini' in the title, too, for better SEO.

Merriam-Webster, the definitive dictionary for US English, says the plural of zucchini can be 'zucchini' or 'zucchinis', though I have never heard it with an 's', and I travel around. Maybe west of the Mississippi....it comes from 'zucchino', the diminutive form of 'zucca', Italian for a gourd. I'm sure you can find them in New Jersey among the Tuscan market gardeners.

We ate zucchini last night for supper, dredged in gluten-free flour and fried, because I am Southern and that was my mother's response to the vegetable her Appalachian mother-in-law mistook for 'uh Ah-talian cucumber' when she first encountered it in the 1960s.

PS Wait...how do those Germans pronounce 'zucchini'? I can't stand not to know...

I've added the conversions.
I've added alternative facts, er ingredients at the end.
Courgettes, or course! When in doubt about any type of food, use the French word.

Not sure about how I've put the ingredients and weights, though, it's sort of all over the place, ingredient-weight, then weight-ingredient, then again metric-ingredient-non metric...
What do you think?

Looks great to me.

I'm only unsure about one thing: 'shrimps'.

I *think* it's 'shrimp'.

My dad, grandmother, and many other dialect speakers, however, said 'shrimps'.

Aha: Merriam Webster says 'shrimps' is okay. As you were.

It also says you can pronounce it 'srimp', as my Appalachian relatives did. And here I thought that was just weird....what do they say in Ireland?

I've just read the entry again. Ounces are always shortened to "oz" in recipes, but the subeditor can sort that out.

The size of pie dish you describe is not usually available in the UK, I don't think. In Germany we have 26 or 28 cm diameter cake tins and they look like wagon wheels compared to anything you would use in the UK.

For the amounts given, I would use an oblong pyrex baking dish like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ProCook-Glass-Ovenware-Roasting-Dish/dp/B00RT9FG68/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1532497322&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=roasting+dish&psc=1

And I really should get back to Dmitri on the Germans struggling with Italian pronunciation. They always try and pronounce the "ch" the guttural German way, which, paradoxically, makes the word sound softer, when in Italian it is harder and simply a "k" sound. Drives me mad! The "h" is only there to harden the "c" so it's not a "tch"!

(They do it with bruschetta, too)

Gnomon tells us about it here: A620416

Sorry I missed this earlier.

This quiche sounds good and easy to make , though I did wonder if you had allowed rather a lot of courgette/zucchini.

I think the 'shrimp' might be prawns in UK English.

My biggest pie dish measures 25 centimetres.

I'm wondering about vegetarian versions ...

Thanks, TC. I can hear it now...

TC:
The pan is one my Mum gave me when I moved out, so I had to measure it to find out the diameter. It is a standard one, so may well be 28cm, after all. I probably mis-measured.

An oblong quiche? an OBLONG quiche? Heresy!
... Well, I'll just have to trust you on this one, I have no idea what is standard equipment in a non-French kitchen, to be honest.
So how can I best describe it, then? Size of the base, volume, or length/width/depth?

MVP:
I made one again tonight, and only used 800g of courgettes this time. It does take a few layers, though. I've added a line to that effect in there.

I'm going to do something about that dish size, but I can add something like "if you use a bigger/smaller dish, you may need to adapt the quantities".

Vegetarian versions: well , it's always possible to make a courgette quiche without the salmon, since there are already eggs for the protein.
But if you (or anyone, really) have suggestions for replacing the fish instead of just removing it, I'd be happy to include them.


And I've switched all the zucchinis to courgettes. I had missed a few, first time around.

Harumph! A rectangular quiche is very practical. If you're feeding a crowd, you can even do a whole oven tray full and cut it into squares.

If you're feeding a small number of mouths but want to do it posh, you can get those tiny round pie dishes (e.g. for crème brûlée) and make individual ones. The pastry/filling ratio is higher, so roll out the pastry as thin as possible for these.

As for leaving out the salmon - it really should be replaced with something equally salty/piquant. So go for a really strong cheese, maybe even some fresh chilis (however, I have not tried the latter out. Nor do I ever intend to!)

For the ultimate vegan version, a colleague of mine (who is French!!!!!!!) makes her quiche with what she calls "silk tofu". The result is rather bland, but you can't tell that no eggs or cream are used.

I made this tonight. Unfortunately, I find that cooked smoked salmon is too salty, I would have preferred fresh salmon. I used about 1/3 of the ingredients, as our garden had only produced 2 small courgettes today. They were tender and sweet and would probably have been fine without being pre-cooked, but as your method in the microwave was no bother, I did it anyway. As I cook quiches very often, it was easy for me to do, but I don't think I'll be using smoked salmon again.

I did make a round one, though, in SF's honour!

I'm with you, Superfrenchie - I can't imagine an Oblong Quiche either

Great introduction to the Entry!

I like the breezy tone to your recipe too - great humour! Enjoyable to read, although it is beyond my culinary capabilities to make so I bow to yours and TC's expertise on that one

As a novice cook, I appreciate your step-by-step approach - always good to know what you can be doing while something else is happening Takes me ages to beat eggs but that is because I haven't got the wrist ability to do it faster - at least I know I could do that in advance, to give me 10 minutes to do the layering neatly - I can imagine this Quiche looks beautiful with the stripes of colour

I love the helpful asides

Great final section - always good to invite conversations!

Bravo - a very tasty Entry indeed!

I don't know what your strength is like in your arms and shoulders, Sasha, but you can also quite successfully beat eggs with one of those shakers. Tupperware do them but you can get them in any supermarket.

It is like a measuring jug with a tightly fitted lid and a kind of "wheel" which fits just under the lid, when you shake the eggs and cream, they are thrown through the spokes of the wheel and mixed well. They are also good for whipping cream - honestly, just put some cream in and shake it a bit and it will whip up to quite a pipeable consistency.

It is also optimal for mixing powders with liquids, for ready-made gravies and sauces, and packet sweets like Angel Delight. So I always had one with me for camping holidays.

Sorry to divert the thread a bit. For those who don't even have a mixer or a whisk, a fork in a bowl or jug is sufficient.

For a quiche, you don't really need to whisk the eggs furiously, just stirring them is enough, as long as the mixture is homogenous, but it will rise nicely when cooking if it has more air in it.

As it sinks again almost immediately, this effect is only any good if you take it out of the oven and plonk it on the table where the diners are already seated.