Whipping Up Quick Supper For Friends

Every Friday, I have my cell group meeting, consisting of about 6-8 regulars, and if everyone comes, about 12 adults. But that is rare. So, estimating how much supper to make for the group can be quite a hit and miss thing. Anyway, usually I would make either some pizzas, quiche, sausage rolls, (like pigs in blanket kinda thing), and because I usually try to squeeze in gym in those hours, it helps to make something that requires minimum supervision, so that I can leave word with the house to take out the item from the oven at a certain time, etc. Last friday, it was also a friend's birthday, and I got a last minute sms asking if I could make a cake.

Anyway, this combination of items, takes about 1 hour preparation time, and 1 hour cooking time.



Bacon, Mushroom and Coriander Quiche

Pastry

1. Ever since I discovered the food processor, pastry is the least of my problems. Blitz 2 cups flour, 125gm butter until all crumbly. Slowly add using the pulse function, tablespoons of iced water, until cohesive. I find its best to stop just before the thing becomes a whole ball.

2. Refrigerate pastry for 30 minutes

3. Roll out pastry into a 9" pie plate, or in this case, my spanking new ceramic quiche dish, from metrojaya sale. I later on found out the shortcomings of the ceramic plate. Can't remove the quiche in its entirety onto a serving plate. I guess if I placed some baking paper at the bottom, it would be possible. This is why I always use the plate with removable base.

4. Blind bake pastry for 10 minutes or so. (ie, bake with a layer of rice or beans, on the pastry layer). Don't forget to pierce the base with a fork, or pastry will puff up like jabba the hutt.


While pastry is baking, in a large bowl, slice 10 slices of back bacon, 3-4 button mushrooms, a healthy bunch of coriander, 2 slices cheddar cheese, and mix with 4 eggs, 1 cup cream, 1/2 cup milk. Mix all together.

5. After removing blind bake, bake pastry for another 10 minutes until browned, before pouring in the filling, and bake for another 20 minutes until filling cooked.

Chocolate Sponge Cake with Blackforest Filling



I daren't call this a blackforest cake, because it may raise the ire of the true blackforest cake specialists. But, it shares similar ingredients with its famous cousin.

1 Qty Chocolate Sponge

2 cups whipped cream
1 can pitted dark cherries, with syrup reserved
200 gms dark chocolate melted with 3/4 cup cream

Cut the cooled chocolate sponge into 3 horizontal layers. Spread the reserve canned juices onto each layer. For the first layer, place half the whipped cream, and spread the cherries over the cream. Alternatively, crush the cherries into the cream mixture.

On second layer, use about 1/3rd of the melted chocolate, mix into remaining whipped cream, to form a layer of chocolate cream.

Pour remaining chocolate ganache onto the cake, and refrigerate for at least a few hours. It turned out to be quite a hit. Not a morsel left.