Crab Quiche

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to Josephine of Gary, West Virginia (where they obviously know
a thing or two about groaners) for this one:

Years ago there was a baker's assistant whose sole job was to pour the
dough mixture for making sausage rolls (apparently the royal family
loved sausage rolls). Because people were identified by their professions,
he was just called Richard the Pourer.

One day Richard ran out of some key ingredients, namely a secret spice
he used in the batter. He called his apprentice and sent him to the
store to buy more spices. When the apprentice arrived at the store,
he found that he had forgotten the name of the ingredient. Hoping
that the storekeeper might be able to figure it out, he described it
to him saying, "It's for Richard the Pourer, for batter for wurst."

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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If you have been paying attention for the past couple of years, you
might recall that I have already done a selection of recipes from "The
Best Recipe" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. Well, so
what? It's still a great cookbook with hundreds of great recipes, and
it's still one of my favorite cookbooks. So there. Here is our lineup:

Monday's Starter
The Best Crab Quiche

Tuesday's Soup or Salad
The Best Warm Spinach Salad

Wednesday's Side Dish
The Best French Fries

Thursday's Entree
The Best Roast Chicken

Friday's Dessert
The Best Flourless Chocolate Cake

The editors of Cook's Illustrated demonstrated their manic obsession
with testing recipes on this one. They tried every conceivable
combination of milk, half-and-half, and heavy cream until the texture
of the custard was just right, and then they began testing again to
figure out the perfect number of whole eggs and yolks to include.
Here's what they came up with:

The Best Crab Quiche

All recipes this week are adapted from "The Best Recipe" by the
editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. For more information about
this book, please see my original review at
http://www.worldwiderecipes.com/cookbooks.htm

1 prepared 9-inch pastry shell, or your favorite recipe
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
3/4 cup (180 ml) whole milk
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream
2 Tbs (30 ml) dry sherry (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
A grating of fresh nutmeg
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
1 cup (250 ml) canned or cooked fresh crab meat
2 Tbs (30 ml) chopped fresh chives

Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and fill it with metallic pie
weights or dried beans or rice. Bake in a preheated 375F (190C) oven
for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the weights and foil and bake until
light golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Meanwhile whisk together
the eggs, yolks, milk, cream, sherry, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and
cayenne. Toss the crab meat with the chopped chives and spread evenly
over the bottom of the hot pie crust. Add the egg mixture and bake 30
to 35 minutes, until the tip of a knife comes out clean when inserted
about 1 inch (3 cm) from the edge of the crust. The center should be
slightly liquid but will firm up as it cools. Serves 6 to 8 as a
first course.
Received on Mon May 24 05:08:22 2004