Mini quiche - canapes for a Private View

I am catering for a Private View next week - I insisted on providing the food so that I could enjoy myself safely.  Pondering what to make...perhaps some macarons, which seem to turn up everywhere at the moment but I have never made or eater...mini carrot cakes..but there needs to be something savory too.  I had about 150g pastry left over in the fridge from making the Venison pie last week, so I left it to come to room temperature and made some quick mini quiches.

Makes ten little savory tarts

Ingredients
150g pastry - made with 1/3 butter, 2/3 my gf flour mix.
One egg
1 tbs grated Parmesan
Roasted red peppers from a jar
Camembert or other cheese - ten little pieces for top of tarts

Bake for 12 minutes at 180C.  Made in a mini muffin tin, using a pastry stomper to shape pastry.

Divide pastry up into ten pieces.  Roll into balls.  Place a ball of pastry in each depression in the muffin tin and stomp the pastry into shape (the stomper is a wooden dumb-bell shaped to make this an easy one-move action).  Otherwise press out with fingers.  Don't worry about being  too neat.

Place a piece of red pepper in each pastry case.  Mix the egg with the grated Parmesan.  Add herbs, pepper or other flavouring if you want.  Cover the pepper with the egg.  Don't fill right to the top as the mixture will expand on cooking.  Top with a piece of cheese.

Bake until golden brown - about twelve minutes.  Cool on rack.  These can be frozen until needed.  As they are tiny they would be fine taken straight to a venue frozen and they will thaw in about half an hour.

This was just a test run.  I will make sufficient for sixty people this weekend and take to the gallery next Thursday.

Luscious gluten free strawberry lemon tarts

gluten free strawberry lemon tarts

One of the blogs I follow had some delicious looking strawberry lemon bars strawberry lemon bars.  This blog has some exquisite photography, so if you want ideas on how to portray food this would be a good place to look.

Starting with his recipe, which uses wheat and measuring cups, I made my own version.  I didn't make any attempt to do an accurate copy, especially since he was making a showcase of a particular type of lemon.


I made two small tarts, using fluted tins with removable bottoms.  This would serve four generously.


Crust
100g flour (40% urid, 40% tapioca, 20% cornmeal)
50g ground almonds
50g butter
50g sugar
40ml water


Whizz crust ingredients (except water) in food mixer or rub in by hand.  When like fine crumbs, mix in the water.  Add as much as you need to get the dough to hold together without crumbling or being claggy.  This will vary a bit depending on the weather, your  almonds etc so use your judgment.

Press into the tart tins.

press crust into tin

Bake at 180C for about 12 minutes, until just tinged with brown.

Turn the oven down to 140C when you take the tarts out.

Filling
75g strawberries,
1 tsp sugar

2 eggs
50g sugar
10g flour
juice and rind of a lemon

Slice strawberries and sprinkle tsp sugar on to sweeten and draw juices.
Mix the rest of the filling ingredients

When pie crust is ready, lay strawberries in the bottom, add any juice to the filling, and pour carefully over strawberries.

Cook filled tarts for 15 minutes until set but still slightly wobbly in the centre.

Cool.  Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving if wanted.

If you have a loose bottomed tart the easiest way to get the tart un-moulded is to rest it on a narrow glass and gently easy rim down.   Then carefully run a knife under the base crust if needed.

getting the tart out of the tin

luscious lemony filling, strawberries and rich almondy crust

This tart is very delicious.  The crust is tender and rich, the filling luscious and lemony but bursts of bright strawberry.  Definitely one to make again.

Mini Cherry Tarts and left-over pastry.

Two weeks ago I made pies and tarts for a gathering of my friends.  One portion of pastry has sat at the back of the fridge since then, forgotten.  I wondered what the pastry would be like so long after having made it.

I made  lots of mini cherry tarts, just pressing a pastry circle into a mini-muffin tin and filling with cooked morello cherries. Ten minutes at 180C and jewel bright little tarts popped out crisp and golden.

I think a week is a more reasonable time to keep this gluten free pastry (one part butter to two parts flour, flour 40% urid lentil, 40% tapioca and 20% cornmeal).  I had to wait for it to warm up, as this pastry is too stiff to roll when chilled.  It is worth knowing that this pastry keeps well in the uncooked state, which makes it possible to make in advance for a busy time.