Quiche Lorraine

Recipe:

Ingredients for the pastry:
175g/6oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting, Ground salt and 75g/2¾oz butter, plus extra for greasing

Ingredients for the filling:
250g/9oz Gruyere or Cheddar, grated, 200g/7oz bacon/ham, chopped, 5 free range eggs, beaten, 100ml/3½fl oz milk, 200ml/7fl oz double cream, pinch of salt, few grinds of black pepper and 2 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Instructions:
To make the the pastry, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingers until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Slowly keep adding cold water and mix until it comes together to form a firm dough, then leave it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-lightly flour a surface and roll out the pastry to the size of a 22cm/8½inch well-buttered flan dish, and cut off the edges. Chill again.
-Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
-Bring the pastry case out of the fridge, line it with baking parchment and then fill it with baking beans. Place on a baking tray and bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven for another five minutes.
-Reduce the temperature of the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
-Sprinkle the cheese into the pastry base. Fry the bacon pieces and sprinkle over them over the cheese.
-Combine the eggs with the milk and cream in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. Pour this mixture over the bacon and cheese. Sprinkle the thyme over the top and trim the edges of the pastry.
-Bake for 30-40 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool and set further.

Regional details:
This recipe from Alsace belongs to both France and Germany, as the region has in the past switched between belonging to France and Germany.For that reason both French and German are spoken in Alsace and so the word for the dish ‘quiche’ derives the German word 'Kuchen' meaning cake. Interestingly the dish is considered typically french although custards and gelatinous substances are typically English.