Good Food at Home

Mr T and myself were planning to watch the Cork match on Sunday and I wanted to pay Dunsland Garden Centre a visit as they started to have a farmer's market on Sundays. To combine both - we decided to go to the Island Gate Restaurant and Bar. I dropped Mr T off at the restaurant and made my way to Dunsland. A lovely garden centre - but that is a post in itself.

Butternut Squash Quiche

Back in the restaurant we decided to have something to eat but when asked was told that the vegetarian option was stir fry (seriously???? how creative). I was simply asking for mashed potato and gravy while Mr T opted for Turkey & Ham (does anyone think about Santa??). Anyhow, the food came and I was given a big scoop of mash but also 2 dried up roasties. The gravy was served in a little gravy boat and I should have left it there. I am still surprised that gravy can be bland and over-spiced at the same time - way (and I mean WAY) too much pepper in it. The back of my throat was burning. Mr T was eating away and since he didn't touch the gravy was ok with the food (nothing to write home about - and I guess he doesn't remember today what he had to eat yesterday). Needless to say that I left the food behind.

Coming home, I was hungry and checked the larder - butternut squash, feta, flour, butter, eggs, cream and leeks in the garden - great combination for a quiche.

Made the shortcrust pastry and while this was chilling in the fridge, peeled and cubed half of the butternut squash, tossed it in olive oil and roasted it (I kept the cubes smallish as I didn't want to go for a big quiche - roasting time was short), washed and sliced the leeks and pan fried them in a little butter (keep it low, you want to keep the colour, just enough to take the rawness out). When all was done, I lined a quiche dish with the pastry (I didn't blindbake the pastry but will do next time - just for a few mins), mixed the butternut with the leeks and scattered it over the base. Mixing cream with an egg, some freshly chopped parsley (thanks heaven for my herb garden) and 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Seasoned with some salt and poured it over the vegetables. The feta was crumbled on top and the whole lot was put in the oven at medium/high heat for 20 mins. The result: an amazing satisfying and absolute delicious quiche. A side salad made the dish perfect

Needless to say that Mr T had a second meal that day

A little note to restaurants - get more creative with the vegetarian options. The quiche took all in all 30 mins to prepare (without the pastry) - so there is not excuse for the boring and lazy stir fry.