The only that was stressing me out as I was planning to come back home to Delhi from college was — working out. Now, mind you I was repatriating back from America (literally the promise land of all thing good, at least in the mind of every Indian parent) without a job and no idea where I would want to work. But amidst all of this, the only thing that stressed me out was that I would have to hit the gym and begin eating healthy with the ultimate goal to get back into shape from my then weight of 110 kgs. My mom took it as a goal — the kind of promises you hear diplomats coming fresh out of a climate change conference — to make me shed all that fat. To add to this, she also bought a neighbourhood Crossfit gym, so my common excuse of not having enough gear couldn’t have worked. It also didn’t help that I was the largest and youngest member in the family with mom and dad equally committed to working 7 days a week.

The stress was about the unknown. Being forced to do something that I didn’t want to do and also not feeling strong to ask myself the question “what will I do if I fail at losing weight?” I thought about that a lot as I was repatriating. I landed into Delhi at night and the next morning, I was at the gym. Winded, hurt but surprisingly, alive after a 45-minute workout. Eventually, with every workout, things just got easier. I lost 25 kilos through the process and more importantly, I finally can find sizes of clothes that I am actually proud to ask for. But even with all those inches shed, I still question: “what will I do if I fail at losing weight?” Is there a moral to this? No, not really. I have learned that perhaps questions like this help us run our daily lives, motivates us, and hopefully, not stop us in our steps (though there are enough in my life {math} that stops me from doing certain things to the best of my abilities). C’est la vie, I guess.

Worrying about the results is not only something you have to face in general life, but also into baking. For me, this is usually pie. All pies seem to hate me but I seem to not give up on them (maybe I should use this strategy for my GMAT prep too— if only the end result was as delicious as pie). This Quiche took time, effort, and all I was thinking, “will this come out well?” Is this the best looking quiche in the world? Meh (French bakers might hate it) but does it taste, feel, smell great? Hell yeah!

Glimpses from the week

Ingredients

For the crust

1 cup of all purpose flour 

150 grams of unsalted butter, cold and cubed 

2 tablespoons of ice cold water

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

For the Filling

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 kilo (about 6 to 8 large), finely chopped

1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup bacon (about 1/2 cup)

2 large eggs

⅔ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Handful of fresh rosemary

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

1/2 cup of parmesan

Method

1. In a large bowl slowly work the flour butter with your hands. Use a bench scraper if possible to prevent the butter from melting. Add ice cold water and form a rough ball of dough. Don’t try to work the dough too much like you would for pasta or pizza. 

2. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill overnight (2 hours at least).

3. While dough chills, cook the onions for the filling: In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter and oil. Add onions and sprigs of rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden and liquid has been cooked off, about 1 hour. (If the onions start to get too dark, reduce the heat to low.) Stir in flour and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. Butter a 9-inch tart pan (or a pie pan. Remember- it needs to be a shallow pan). Take chilled dough out of plastic wrap and place on a floured surface. Roll dough into an 11-inch circle, drape over it over tart pan and press into bottom edges and down sides. Use a knife or rolling pin to cut off excess dough, then use your fingers to push dough 1/4-inch up past the edge of the pan. Use a fork to poke evenly spaced holes in the bottom and sides of the dough and chill for 30 minutes.

5. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place chilled tart on a baking sheet. Line with foil, fill with pie weights and bake for 15 minutes. Remove tart from the oven and carefully remove foil and pie weights (I just use uncooked rice). Return the tart to oven to continue baking, uncovered, until dough is just baked through and barely turning golden on the edges, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

6. Prepare the bacon: Heat a medium, dry skillet over medium heat, then add lardons and cook until they start to brown, about 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.

7. In a large bowl, whisk to combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Fold in onions, then half the parmesan. Cube the remaining 1 tablespoon butter into pea-size pieces.

8. Scatter cooked bacon over the par-baked tart shell. Scrape egg and onion mixture into shell, smoothing top, and then scatter remaining parmesan on top. Dot with butter pieces, then bake in a 375-degree oven until puffed and browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove the tart ring from pan and slide quiche onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.