I made this post, essentially for Vincent (oui rien que pour toi!), our dear friend from Bretagne (Brittany) and originally from a small town of Malestroit who introduced me to lait ribot very recently. I had no idea what lait ribot was before that night. He was making something très Breton, like crunchy buckwheat galettes soaked in lait ribot, and I was so skeptical and curious at the same time. I thought “Lait quoi??” “lait ribot? c’est quoi ca?” (lait ribot, what’s that?). He said, “c’est breton, en Bretagne ca se mange comme ca”. So let’s eat it the Breton way!

When I tasted it, I loved it. It was love at first bite! Lait Ribot is a specialty milk from Bretagne, that’s why I never heard of it (in France, outside of Bretagne, it’s almost impossible to find) and is wildly used there to make crêpes, galettes and so many other dishes but it’s also consumed as a refreshing drink. It’s basically a fermented milk that you get after the fabrication of the butter (in French you can also call it petit lait, or babeurre, literally meaning beating the butter, or beated milk) and its consumption is retraced back to the Gauls! Every country has its own version of fermented milk, and in the US it’s called buttermilk.

If it was not for Vincent, I would not have bought buttermilk…so I owe him this one.

Call me ignorant but I had no idea lait Ribot was similar to buttermilk. I had no idea about the existence of lait ribot, and I had no idea what buttermilk was either. So pardon my ignorance…Usually when I see the word “butter” on a bottle, I don’t bother. I stay away from butter.

After drinking lait ribot and thinking about its use, I decided to try it in a quiche and substitute it to cream which would probably make the quiche less rich and of course lighter.

I made an olive oil wholewheat crust instead of a traditional pâte brisée which gave the quiche a wholesome and hearty flavor and texture. I usually love root vegetables with wild mushrooms, they complement each other very well.

The farmer’s cheese comes from my Greek grocery store, Taki the owner sells the most unique and unexpected products, this cheese looks similar to ricotta but is not salty, more tangy and lighter in calories. So needless to say that this quiche is very light…and so delicious! Ils sont forts ces bretons!

MERCI VINCENT!

Ingredients for 6 people

For the crust

• 4.23 oz (or 110 g) wholewheat flour
• water
• 4 tbs olive oil
• salt

For the filling

• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 lb mixed wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, shiitake, oyster’s mushrooms, etc…
• 4 medium size rutabagas
• 5 large tbs farmer’s cheese (or ricotta)
• 1 tbs mixed herbs (chives, parsley, thyme, etc…)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups buttermilk
• 3 tbs Gruyère cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the crust

Place flour in a mixing container, add olive oil, water and salt and mix to form an homogeneous dough. Add enough water to allow the dough to form a ball, non sticky and smooth.

For the filling

Wash rutabagas and peel them. Boil them in water until tender. Cut in 8 mm slices crosswise. Set aside.

Clean and wash the mushrooms, Cut them in medium size pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook until the water evaporates. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix farmer’s cheese with herbs, salt and pepper using a fork.

Roll the dough and place in a non stick round tart pan. Spread the cheese mixture on the bottom. Add a layer of rutabagas on top of the cheese, then mushrooms.

In another mixing container, beat eggs and buttermilk, salt and pepper. Pour on top of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with gruyère cheese and cook in the oven for about 35-40 min at 370F or until the top is golden. Serve hot with an endive salad.

I made a large quiche just like those mini ones for a dinner party, and I had leftover dough…which I did not want to throw away. Why throw away food that you enjoyed making and put time into it?  I love to play with crusts, quiches and tarts, after all, they’re the basics of French cuisine. For savory tarts, I love to use olive oil instead of butter in the crust, and make it wholesome. Olive oil adds a wonderful flavor to crusts and cakes and make them lighter. Of course traditional French cuisine uses more butter, but this blog is not about traditional French food.

I love the combination of zucchini, feta and mint, they pair so well in almost anything such as in savory cakes, flans, couscous, etc…The crust and its herbes de Provence flavor, gives you a kick of Southern French cuisine, with all its aromas, and fragrant scents. Yes indeed, these quiches will bring some warmth and will brighten your day, as Southern French food does, it’s filled with flavors, colors and freshness…so isn’t this a bit of happiness too?

I am one of those crazy people that get affected by the weather, and a bright day with natural light gives me so much happiness. If I could chose the perfect weather it would be a sunny day with 80F temperature, with a light breeze. If anyone of you live in that particular climate, please let me know and I will just move there! (no humidity please). There is a French expression that most old people would respond to when asked, comment allez-vous? “How are you doing?” most of them respond, oh comme le temps!, meaning “like the weather”, which really can show you how much the French are truly “doing” like the weather! so if it’s raining, you can just imagine how they’re doing! Ask no more…

Ingredients for 4 mini quiches

For the crust

• 4.4 oz (or 125 g) wholewheat flour
• 1.69 fl oz (or 50 ml) olive oil
• 1 tsp herbes de Provence
• water
• a pinch of salt

For the filling

• 2 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
• 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced with a mandoline
• 2 tbs feta, crumbled
• 1 tbs mint, chiffonade
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbs heavy cream
• 4 tbs milk
• cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the crust

Place flour in a mixing bowl, then add herbes de Provence, salt, oil, and start mixing, add water gradually enough to make the dough elastic and not crumbly. Mix well to form a ball. Wrap in a plastic film and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Divide dough in four parts and using a rolling pin, roll into 4 round sheets. Lay flat inside four tart molds.

For the filling

Place sliced zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle with coarse salt, mix well to coat. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water, squeeze extra water using your hands and pat dry using a paper towel. Cut roughly.

Place olives on top of crust. Mix zucchini, feta and mint and put mixture on top of olives.

Beat eggs with cream and milk, a little salt (not too much since the feta is salty and the zucchini have absorbed some salt too), and cayenne pepper. Pour on top of zucchini mixture.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 20-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the crust is cooked on the bottom.

A good friend of mine just had surgery on her foot, and is staying at home recovering, so when I asked her if she wanted me to bring her something, she responded “a vegetable quiche”! So here we are…The worse thing about foot surgery is that you are stuck in bed or walking with crutches, and there is not much activity you can do…so I made the quiche ready to bring it to her, then one of those unexpected things happened, I had to take my car to the garage, so the quiche had to stay with me.

I love to flavor my crusts and doughs, it adds a lovely flavor and character to the dish…you can use anything you like to flavor the crust, herbes de provence, parmesan, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, etc…in this particular one, I added poppy seeds and chili flakes, and really makes a great balance with the quiche filling. I used olive oil instead of the traditional French pâte brisée made with butter, and a mixture of wholesome flours such as kamut and spelt which gives this crust its beautiful dark color. Also, traditional quiche has crème fraîche, I added milk instead, if you want to keep it a little lighter milk can be substituted or a mixture of milk and cream will be a nice alternative.

Now what more French than camembert? not many things…It’s hard to find great camembert in the US, you know the one that’s not too “fait”  (too hard) or too “coulant” (runny) with a subtle scent. I found one at Whole Foods that was being recommended by the gentleman behind the counter, so I decided to listen for once to what people tell me…and the camembert was perfect, juste comme il faut! So we ended up with a healthy quiche filled with vegetables and a wholesome and flavorful crust.

Ingredients for about 4 people

For the crust

• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 cup kamut flour
• 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tbs poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• a few pinches of salt

For the filling

• 1 small green cauliflower
• 1/2 camembert, sliced
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk (or 1/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup cream)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the crust

In a mixing container, mix all flours together. Add poppy seeds, chili and salt. Add olive oil and water gradually and start kneading the dough. Stop kneading when the dough becomes homogeneous and smooth. Wrap in a plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

For the filling

Break cauliflower into florets, and cook them in salted boiling water until cauliflower is cooked but still firm. Drain and crush with a fork. Set aside.

In a mixing container, beat eggs, milk (or cream) cumin seeds, salt and pepper.

To make quiche, roll dough into a sheet of 2-3 mm thick. Place in mold. Spread evenly crushed cauliflower in bottom of mold. Top it with camembert slices. Pour egg mixture on top.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F until the dough is cooked and top is golden brown.