Daily

We have finally found a way to stay for months…leasing a furnished apartment in Nice.

Week One…daily walks around the vosinage to find out how life works here…So many fun and interesting small shops and markets are within steps of our apartment on a busy yet quiet street in the hub of Central Nice …and we are enjoying walking out the door to get what we need or want. The opening photo is the view from our apartment on Saint Valentine’s Day as we shared a chocolate molleux (lava cake) and an espresso.

Like many days begin, the first few days were spent on exploration…as we found so many fun shops and eating inspiration.

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Making a Quiche – sort of

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We have eaten out almost once a day as we find ourselves at lunch time (strictly 12-2:30) in many corners of Nice including and train stops east and west.Now our first Sunday, and many stores close Sunday or at least by noon on Sunday.

We shop daily for fresh food and today, a quiche sounded good. Looking through the basic cooking pans and assorted serving dishes in our modern cuisine…no quiche/pie pan nor any other baking utensils such as measuring spoons, cups.

Clearly, users of this apartment were not meant to get too involved in making what they eat here…hmmm, this was one of my goals in staying long term in France…to use some of the very fresh and interesting veg, meat and International products available on almost every corner.

Eggs are now as “scarce as hen’s teeth”, here, even here in France, due to chicken flu, cough or cold…and cost more than a steak for a dozen in the US. French eggs, even a bit high in price, were still less than their US cousins, so was sure I could get the eggs, cheese (it is France, land of 400 types of cheese), and crème..the basics of a quiche. Side bar is that it has been years since I raised my own chickens – that I have cracked such sturdy shells on such healthy, large eggs. Thinking spinach (les épinards), bacon and cheese quiche would be easy to find for the filling, I exhumed a rectangular serving dish in the pots drawer that would bake well and headed to the Intermarché a block away. Spinach not in season or at least today with the legumes, but super green broccoli from Spain looked enticing, but eggs., where were the eggs? I received a nonchalant answer from the clerk (in French) “Behind this case, but we are almost out.” What!!? The egg case was indeed almost empty, why I had missed them in my search, and there remained only 6 boxes of 4/carton eggs (4-6 box quite typical in the intercity). I grabbed two of them along with some cream (lait entière). I did find a single serving pâte feuilletée (love these ready-to-cook puff pastry sheets at €1.3 each – remember that the USD $ is positive on the side of € parity).

It was easy to steam the tasteful broccoli, fry in butter – onion, garlic and lardons (small pieces of uncured or salt-cured pork fat), while I fit the pastry into the designated pan. In my US kitchen, I would have blind baked or pre cooked quiche pastry in a 9″ round pan or similar held down with pie weights, but nothing like that here.

I fit the pastry to the bottom and up the sides of the cooking dish and set it to pre-bake at 200c (400f) for 15 min but could see that the pasty was sagging so took the pan out of the oven early and pushed the pastry down further so it covered the bottom with a small upper lip. I laid some of the cut cheese on top as it does help to keep the bottom pasty from getting soggy after adding the egg mixture. Then I added the sauteed onions, broccoli mix on top. After that, 5 eggs and 3/4 cup (used a coffee cup) cream whipped with a fork, salt & pepper (had no other herbs that went well) and put the pan into the 200c oven for about 12 minutes. After checking on firmness, I added another 10 minutes…and the quiche was fragrant, puffed, and done.

Salad was simple greens dressed with red vinigar, olive oil, fresh garlic mixed in a small bowl. Voila, delish!!