Since we're living in London now and have no family obligations over Easter anymore, it has become tradition to invite friends for a leisurely Easter brunch.
This year our friends beat us to the chase and invited us to theirs, so we didn't have to bother with the preparations too much this time (except for bringing along some food) and no cleaning up to do afterwards. Instead, we met some lovely new people and our main responsibility was to take care of the left-overs, as the hosts were leaving for NYC that day... nothing more pleasant than that!
It was an incredible feast, the tables bendt under the weight of special Easter treats brought directly from Austria - a plaited brioche, great chocolate bunnies and a gorgeous cooked ham on the bone for which Martina prepared two delicious sauces. I brought some asparagus wrapped in parma ham and sprinkled with parmesan, a plate of salmon & cream cheese roly-polies, some haddock and leek quichettes and a
cheese platter consisting exclusively of British cheeses which I bought at the Borough market the day before. The cutest of all, though, were the little nests my friend's daughter made using chocolate and bran and topped with some miniature Easter eggs!
Conscious of our health, we also had fresh and crunchy vegetables, a home-made muesli and some decent exercise in the form of traditional egg fights, with yours truly leaving as the winner...
Smoked haddock and leek quichettes
(yields 18)
450 g shortcrust pastry
2 leeks (finely sliced)
2 tbsp olive oil
150 g smoked haddock fillet (skinless)
200 ml milk
5 eggs
200 ml whipping cream
salt, pepper
tabasco sauce
chives or sliced leeks to decorate
Line 18 muffin tins (ca. 6 cm diameter) with the shortcrust pastry. Cover each of them with a sheet of non-stick baking parchment and fill with baking beans (if you don't have any, use rice or lentils instead. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven, remove the baking beans and paper and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and fry the leeks until soft and starting to brown. Set aside. Dice the haddock and cook in the milk for 5 minutes, then drain and flake with a fork.
Beat the eggs and the cream in a bowl, season with salt, pepper and tabasco, then add the other ingredients. Combine well, then fill the quiche bases with the mixture.
Bake for 15 minutes at 200 C (fan) or until set.
This works equally well as a whole quiche, although the cooking time will vary greatly. If you want to serve the quiches as fingerfood at a party, just use mini-muffin tins to creat canape-sized versions, and cook for a shorter period.
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