Creating A Recipe: Apple Quiche Flan
I once did an assignment for a college health class where I was required to track my diet and see how closely it fit with the Recommended Daily Allowances for fruits, vegetables, etc. What I learned from this exercise is that I mentally categorize "fruits and vegetables" together and see that as a separate category from grains and legumes.
I try to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables but I don't really try to eat as many vegetables as the FDA recommends and I don't try to eat as many fruits as the FDA recommends. I just try to get enough of EITHER/BOTH in my diet daily as a single category.
But I have a long history of blood sugar issues and I generally prefer to not eat things that are so sweet. It causes me problems if I eat too much apple pie.
Historically, apples weren't treated like a desert food. Back when the US was still British Colonies, they had recipes for foods you were likely to still have in your cellar at the end of winter, so they ate things like apple-cabbage dishes because those were two things that kept well and were likely to still be on hand during the part of the year you were most likely to have trouble trying to feed your family.
So at some point I created an apple quiche flan recipe so I could eat more apple pie and less sugar. I didn't write it down and I haven't made it in a lot of years, so I don't remember the details, but this is what I did:
I opened a cookbook with an apple pie recipe and a cookbook with a quiche recipe and I crossed them. I would peel and cut up a bunch of apples and place fresh cut apple slices on homemade crust in a flan dish.
For raw apples, I favor Granny Smith apples but for cooking, I'm fine with several varieties of red apples. From what I have read, Granny Smith apples are lower in some chemical than any other apple (I don't recall what). Presumably, it gets reduced by cooking because if they are cooked, I don't "object" to other apple types.
I try to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables but I don't really try to eat as many vegetables as the FDA recommends and I don't try to eat as many fruits as the FDA recommends. I just try to get enough of EITHER/BOTH in my diet daily as a single category.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.Apples are something of a staple in my diet and I will eat apple pie to get them. I rather like apple pie from McDonald's, in fact.
But I have a long history of blood sugar issues and I generally prefer to not eat things that are so sweet. It causes me problems if I eat too much apple pie.
Historically, apples weren't treated like a desert food. Back when the US was still British Colonies, they had recipes for foods you were likely to still have in your cellar at the end of winter, so they ate things like apple-cabbage dishes because those were two things that kept well and were likely to still be on hand during the part of the year you were most likely to have trouble trying to feed your family.
So at some point I created an apple quiche flan recipe so I could eat more apple pie and less sugar. I didn't write it down and I haven't made it in a lot of years, so I don't remember the details, but this is what I did:
I opened a cookbook with an apple pie recipe and a cookbook with a quiche recipe and I crossed them. I would peel and cut up a bunch of apples and place fresh cut apple slices on homemade crust in a flan dish.
A flan dish is shallower than a pie dish. I also bought special equipment to make it easier to peel, core and slice apples in quantity.Mix eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and tofu in a bowl and a LITTLE sugar, like one to three tablespoons. In contrast, apple pie recipes use like CUPS of sugar.
For raw apples, I favor Granny Smith apples but for cooking, I'm fine with several varieties of red apples. From what I have read, Granny Smith apples are lower in some chemical than any other apple (I don't recall what). Presumably, it gets reduced by cooking because if they are cooked, I don't "object" to other apple types.
Equipment
- A whisk is a great thing to have on hand for mixing eggs, milk, etc. when making quiche.
- A flan pan is shallower and wider than a pie pan and lacks the sloping sides. It is a good depth for a pie whose purpose is to get lots of apple slices laid out with a little egg mix filling holding it together.
- I bought an apple peeler where you stuck the apple on it and cranked a handle. My kids thought this was fun, which meant they would HELP me cook.
- I had a separate tool for coring and slicing apples that was also easy enough for an elementary-age kid to use. My then 7-year-old would use this to make himself fresh apple slices without bothering mom.
