Mini Crustless Quiche Lorraine {Recipe}

OK, I know that these are not the most glamorous looking of treats, but they taste oh so yummy! My family and I love entertaining and also attend a lot of [church] events/activities which require the bringing of a plate of eats. Now when it comes to whipping up a plate of something sweet, I have a long list of recipes to delve into, but somehow I just don't have that many savoury snacks to choose from (plenty of meals, but not many 'finger foods'). As a result, I have been experimenting a bit to expand my repertoire for when it's my turn to bring a savoury platter.

So I needed to make a dish really quickly a while ago - I had forgotten about an activity until just before hand. Because I point blank refuse to buy eats, I peered into my fridge to see what I could put together really quickly. I had plenty of eggs, ham, cheese and cream in the fridge, so a quiche seemed destined to be made! But I didn't have any pastry, nor the desire to make any just then. I hunted around on the internet for a few minutes looking for some inspiration, when I found a couple of recipes suggesting the use of panko breadcrumbs instead of a crust. Well, that would work! I had bread, I could make breadcrumbs! I normally make large pie sized quiches, but on this occasion I decided to try making mini quiches instead, because they would be so much easier to serve up! They were a hit, everyone loved them and they were gobbled down really quickly. Since then, these little quiches have been a hit every time I share them.

Mini Crustless Quiche Lorraine Recipe

Makes 2 dozen mini pies.

Ingredients:

1 Large Onion - chopped

3 Garlic Cloves - chopped

8-10 slices of Ham - diced

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

1/2 teaspoon Mustard Powder

1 1/2 cups Plain Dry Bread Crumbs

2 cups grated Mature Cheddar Cheese

Chives - chopped

8 Eggs

1 1/3 cup Milk

1 1/3 cup Double Cream

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200°C

Thoroughly grease the cups of 2 muffin tins.

Fry onion and garlic in some oil until caramelised. Remove from heat. Add ham, salt, pepper and mustard powder. Mix well ensuring mustard is well distributed.

Make bread crumbs (or use ready-made):
Reduce a few slices of bread to crumbs in a food processor. Lay crumbs out on baking tray and toast in the hot oven for a few minutes until they start to go golden.

In a bowl/jug:

Beat together the eggs, milk and double cream.

In greased muffin tins:

Put 1 TBSP of plain dried bread crumbs in the bottom of each cup.

Next, put a mound of cheese in each cup, followed by a spoon of the ham/onion mixture.

Sprinkle some chives on top.

Pour egg mixture over, should be about 1/4" below top of cup. Make sure everything gets covered by the egg mixture - use a spoon to gently push bits down (some of it will float, that is fine, as long as it has been submerged and has a coating of egg on it).

Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes, until they are nice and golden on top.

When they are ready the tops are really tall and round,

but they sink down and become hollow almost as soon as you take them out of the oven.

Allow to cool in the pans, then very carefully remove and chill.
Can also be served hot!

Happy Baking!

500 Fan Giveaway

To celebrate passing the 500 fan mark on our Facebook page, we are giving away a £25 voucher to spend on anything you like at PartyAnimalOnline!

This giveaway is open worldwide to all Elaine's Sweet Life Facebook fans.
The giveaway is open for 2 weeks and closes on the 17th August 2014 at midnight GMT

Enter below to win! You have options for 8 entries each.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* Please ensure that you follow the instructions for each entry, or your entry will be invalid.
  (To follow by email you need to enter your email address in the box at the top right of this page,
  Blog Comments should be left at the bottom of this blog post, and please make sure you enter the
  url/web address of your pin in the space provided when you click on the Pinterest option.)

Feel free to ask any questions to do with this competition on our Facebook page or on our Blog. The voucher will be issued to the winner by email. A £5 voucher will be added to the prize if the winner resides outside the UK, to supplement additional shipping costs.

Hosted by Elaine's Sweet Life.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of the Facebook page and not to Facebook.

Bad Arm!

I thought it was time I wrote a post about the issues I am having with my right (dominant) arm. A year ago my shoulder started hurting a lot, and I assumed it was as a result of a whip lash injury I had sustained in a minor car accident a few months earlier. But then, around Christmas, my forearm started hurting until it got to the point that I could not use it any more, as it got worse my shoulder started hurting more and more too, and I was getting pins and needles in my hand. After months of multiple trips to the GP with 'rest advice' given for what was diagnosed as severe tennis elbow (they had no interest in my shoulder by this point), my arm had got so bad that I could no longer write, lift a small glass of water or even dress myself. Fine motor control was practically non-existent and I couldn't grasp things properly. I insisted that I be referred to a specialist.

I finally got an MRI 2 months ago, which revealed multiple problems in both my shoulder and neck (a very long list, some of which are growth 'defects'). I have since had a cortisone injection in my shoulder, which hurt a lot but didn't bring much relief. Today I underwent sedation and had two injections in my neck (sorry about the terribly unflattering photo LOL - thanks to a wonderful friend who lugged me around and sat with me for hours today. Thank you so much!) I really hope that it relieves me of at least some of the pain, but, depending on how I do in the next month or so, I may end up having surgery on either my shoulder or neck. I really hope it doesn't come to that!

I the mean time, I am still trying to bake as much as I can. I struggle with the detailed work, but my hand coordination does seem to have improved, so I am managing to do a bit, albeit very slowly! My BFF and my son have both been very helpful in lifting heavy bowls and putting cakes in and out the oven for me, whisking, stirring, rolling out fondant, etc. I also have gained a prodigy in my BFF! She works so well with me and picks up what I teach her so quickly, and she really listens and isn't afraid to make mistakes and try again. She practically made her baby's Blessing Cake on her own, as I had just had the injection in my shoulder and couldn't move my arm for pain at all. She was also invaluable in getting the Diamond Anniversary cake done, delivered and assembled last weekend.

Thank you for your support and if their is anything you would like to see me do/make in future posts, please just comment below :)

***UPDATE***
My arm has become much worse and I am awaiting imminent surgery. I can no longer bake or cook, except for very simple recipes, I can't drive, or even dress myself properly. I am feeling very frustrated and pretty much sit around reading or watching TV all day. The pain is so bad, I can't sleep for more than a few hours at a time, so I am also constantly exhausted. The good news is that my surgeon says that once I've had the surgery, I should be good as new again within 6 weeks!