A few days before the Coronation of King Charles III, the BBC published this ‘official’ recipe from Buckingham Palace, created by Mark Flanagan and Lucy Wilson. My long-time friend and cooking ‘partner’ Christine, who years ago inspired me to join her in learning to cook good French food, was quite taken by this quiche and made it on Coronation Day. She loved it; I was a bit apprehensive. She cooked it again to much acclaim from her guests. She encouraged me to try it and so I did. I loved it too as did my guests. The flavours of the spinach, the fresh, young, twice podded broad beans and the fresh tarragon were delicious so I thought with this encouragement, you may be tempted to bake it too. Once the broad beans are cooked and podded, it is truly quick and easy! My photo of a large quiche is to come; I forgot to take some at the time! Meanwhile, here is a photo of my mini Coronation Quiche made recently, plus at the end is the BBC’s photo from their website.
Ingredients:
For the filling
125ml milk
175ml double cream
3 x 70g eggs
1 garlic clove crushed and made into a paste
¼- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 large tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
100g grated tasty cheese, such as a good cheddar, I used pecorino
180g cooked spinach, liquid squeezed out and lightly chopped
250g uncooked, frozen broad beans, double podded, giving 100g tender, green broad beans
For the short-crust pastry
I used my own pastry recipe which is in the recipe collection on my website
Or buy a 250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry
Mixed green salad with a creamy vinaigrette
1 iceberg lettuce, trimmed and cut into wedges
A handful of watercress, about 100g, and a small handful of rocket leaves
4 champignons, wiped clean and thinly sliced
3 spring onions thinly sliced, using some white and green
Creamy vinaigrette dressing for the lettuce salad
1 garlic clove, crushed into a paste
2 tbsp mayonnaise, see my recipe below
2 tbsp sour cream
100ml of my salad dressing vinaigrette, see my below
My salad dressing vinaigrette
150ml extra virgin olive oil
50ml Champagne Ardenne vinegar or another good quality white wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
A splash of water, about 1 tablespoon to make the vinaigrette less harsh
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
My egg mayonnaise
2 egg yolks
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp a good quality white wine vinegar
1½ – 2 tbsp lemon juice
300ml light flavoured olive oil
Method:
For the filling:
Pre-heat the oven to 160℃
Prepare all the ingredients. In a steamer over a wok, steam the spinach for a few minutes, and set aside to cool. Squeeze out all the moisture with your hands. Chop well, and set aside until ready to assemble.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the broad beans; cook for a minute or 2 and then strain and put them into a bowl of iced water, to refresh to retain the lovely green colour. Drain well. Remove the grey, tough outside pod to reveal the beautiful, bright green, young bean inside. Set aside.
In another medium-sized bowl beat the milk, cream, eggs, crushed garlic, grated nutmeg and herbs, plus sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
To assemble: scatter half of the grated cheese in the blind-baked pastry shell-base, top with the chopped spinach spread evenly over the cheese. Season well with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Do the same with the broad beans, then pour over the egg mixture. If necessary, gently give the mixture a delicate stir to ensure the filling is evenly dispersed but be careful not to damage the pastry case.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Place into the oven and bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until set and very lightly golden. Check after 25 minutes and, if getting too golden on top, place a piece of baking paper loosely over the top. You may also need to turn it around for more even baking, depending on your oven’s behaviour.
I have also made these in small, individual quiche tins, 10cm diameter and cooked them for 15 – 20 minutes. Surprisingly they always take longer than you think.
Serve with a crispy, green salad.
Christine served a crispy green salad of iceberg lettuce wedges and peppery watercress with buttermilk dressing with her Coronation Quiche. The recipe appeared on the same BBC website. I also served something similar with a few adaptions:
A mixed green salad with a creamy vinaigrette
For the salad: prepare the salad greens, wash and dry, set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use. Wipe the champignons clean with kitchen paper towel. Clean and finely slice the spring onions. With the chef’s knife, crush and peel the garlic; then using the tip of the blade of your chef’s knife, press the garlic into a paste.
For the creamy vinaigrette dressing:
Whisk all the dressing ingredients together very well to achieve a creamy emulsion. Pour into a squeeze bottle for easy drizzling over the salad.
When ready to serve, take a large serving plate, arrange the watercress, rocket and iceberg on it, and scatter the mushrooms and spring onions around and over the salad greens. Drizzle over most of the dressing, serving the remainder in a sauce jug for guests to help themselves.
My salad dressing vinaigrette
Make the dressing in a medium-sized stainless-steel bowl. Whisk the oil with chardonnay vinegar, Dijon mustard, sea salt and pepper to taste; add the lemon juice. Taste to check the flavour and add more oil or vinegar or lemon juice to suit your taste, if necessary.
Store in a sealed glass salad dressing jar.
My egg mayonnaise
Before starting to make the mayonnaise make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. If the oil is cold, heat it to tepid.
Use a medium-sized, clean and dry, warm bowl and rest it on a warm, damp cloth to stop it slipping.
Separate the eggs, and reserve the whites for another use.
Work egg yolks with a whisk or wooden spoon for 2 minutes until they are thick and sticky.
Add the Dijon mustard, salt, vinegar and one tablespoon of the lemon juice and beat until very thick, at least 30 seconds. This is an important part of the process as it begins the forming of the emulsion.
Now the eggs are ready for the oil. Wrap a tea towel around the base of your bowl to stop it from moving and very slowly drip the oil in, drop by drop, whisking constantly, until creamy and thick. As the mixture thickens, and you have added about half the oil, you may increase the oil additions to a very thin trickle until it is all added.
Adjust the seasonings and add extra lemon juice or water if needed.
