Coronation Quiche

In 2009, I became a dual citizen, adding Britizenship to my US citizenship. It involved swearing my allegiance to the Queen of England and all her heirs and successors, so let's hope my two countries never go to war (again) and make me choose. Meanwhile, God save the King, who was coronated today.

Taking my oath of UK citizenship

In honor of the occasion, I made "Coronation Quiche", using a recipe from the British Royal Family (yes, seriously). When I first read of the Coronation Quiche, I was not aware that it has been widely scorned and mocked. I find the criticism pretty unfair. If you don't want to make the quiche, then DON'T MAKE THE QUICHE, and stop whinging.

As the New York Times' Melissa Clark pointed out, the quiche's flavor is a vegetarian* take on quiche Lorraine, and that is why it appealed to me. A plant-based diet contributes less to global warming than a diet heavy in animal products.

I used, as always, my simple pastry recipe for the crust with gluten-free 1:1 flour, rather than the crust specified in the recipe. I also substituted kale for about a third of the spinach, because I happened to have some left over after making "Sausage, Egg, and Kale Casserole" (NYT Cooking; subscription required) last week with Impossible ground sausage. And I couldn't get fava beans for the quiche, notwithstanding my antipathy to them, so I used shelled edamame.

I think The Guardian's Felicity Cloake had an excellent suggestion to squeeze the liquid out of your greens before adding them to the quiche, but mine turned out fine even without taking that step. And I fully agree with her that it took many more than 25 minutes to set in the oven. It took probably more like 35-40 minutes.

I always dress for the occasion

There was no whinging at my house about the quiche; it was well-received by all of us commoners.

I also want to record that yesterday I made some delicious strawberry cupcakes with rhubarb meringue frosting (A Cozy Kitchen). The frosting tasted great but it was a pain, going from curdled to soupy and back again, so next time I'd just make a buttercream and fold in the rhubarb. And no need for cake flour: Regular (or gluten-free 1:1) flour should do just fine.

*While the quiche filling is vegetarian, the crust calls for lard. So use butter instead, or vegetable shortening as in the pastry recipe I use.