Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Testing out my oven.....


An electric oven was never high on my list of things I wanted- why would I want an oven, when I had a perfectly functioning gas one at home? Sure, my oven often refuses to start (and usually in the most convinient times!), but it's always managed to create beautifully baked goods.

Getting an electric oven was my mum's idea because a sometimes, the oven is a little too big to bake small things which require short baking times. But a simple electric oven was not what she had in mind- she wanted an electric oven with a rotisserie function. A chicken on a stick revolving around in an oven? Now that sounds like a whole heap of fun! So when we bought a new, small electric oven two days ago, I was extremely excited. So excited that despite the fact that it was almost bedtime, I wanted to plug it in and bake a cake straight away. My mum wouldn’t let me =[

We ended up ‘testing’ our new oven by baking garlic bread the next morning, forgetting to read the manual (because we were all so excited) and skipped the ‘do this before using you oven’ step until the oven started smelling like stinky plastic……Woops!


But since you can’t really test an oven by baking garlic bread, I tested it again. For lunch! I chose a simple quiche recipe to also try out my new tart pan- I’ve been wanting one for a while now (they make pretty tarts!) The tart pan wasn’t very deep so I had to halve the recipe I usually use. It also had a removable base so when I was transferring the pastry (in the tin) with one hand under the tin, it fell out and fell on the floor- I guess my hand span is less than 18cm then!

The tart itself didn’t turn out too bad and the tart pan made it look so much prettier than when I bake it in my glass dish. But it was really thin, and definitely not filling enough for three of us (I could easily eat the whole thing).

But the oven was so different to my gas oven! I think the lack of flame makes it look not as hot as the gas oven, but I have a strange feeling that the actual temperature in the oven is lower than the temperature on the dial because the tart took longer than I expected it to take. Not being able to turn on a light to look inside was also uncomfortable (and I couldn't even open the door =[ )and I found it really weird when I opened the door and didn’t receive a huge blast of hot air blowing at my face. I still like my gas oven better, but having a smaller electric one means that I don’t have to feel guilty about using the oven for 5 minutes. Which means I can now bake even more!!

And just incase I didn't test the oven properly (and because I can't have all the fun), my mum baked chicken wings for dinner ;)




Ham and spring onion quiche/tart
adapted from The Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

Pastry:
1 ¼ cup plain flour
1 Tbs sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup cooking oil
3 Tbs milk (I needed a lot more)

Filling
2 beaten eggs
¾ cup milk
¼ cup slices green onions
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
dash ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped cooked ham (or chicken or crabmeat)
¾ cup Swiss, Cheddar, Monterey Jack or Havarti cheese
½ tablespoon plain flour

1.In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt. Add oil and milk all at once to the flour mixture. Stir lightly with a fork. Form into a ball. Press dough firmly onto bottom and up sides of a 23cm pie plate or tart pan. Cover in two layers of foil and bake in 230oC oven for 8 min. Remove foil and bake for 4-5 min until pastry is set and dry. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temp to 180oC
2.Meanwhile in a medium bowl, stir together eggs, milk, green onions, salt, pepper, nutmeg. Stir in ham. In a small bowl, toss together the cheese and the flour. Add to egg mixture; mix well
3.Pour egg mixture into a hot, baked pastry shell. Bake in the 180 oven for ~30 minutes or until knife inserted near centre comes out clean. Let stand 10 min before serving.

26 Comments:

SteelCityFlan said...

The tart looks great, Von! I'm a little confused...is the oven like a little countertop one, or did you guys get a whole new one? Either way, the quiche looks like it turned out nicely. Can't wait to hear about the cakes you try out with the new oven :P

MaryMoh said...

Interesting oven testing story :D I always can't get my recipes right when I tried out a new oven. It always takes quite a while to get used to it. But your quiche turned out really good. I'm sure you'll have a lot of more baking fun to come.

grace said...

as far as i can tell, your oven passed its test with flying colors--the quiche looks delicious. yay for a new toy! :)

Von said...

@SteelCityFlan It's a little countertop one....can't wait to start baking cakes in it too! Aren't you on holidays??

@MaryMoh Thanks! I picked a quiche because I figured there was less of a chance of it going wrong than with a cake....

@grace Thanks! It's definitely a pass......now I'll have to test it with something else =]

Amy @ cookbookmaniac said...

Mum always said to me that gas is better than electric, even though we have only ever used gas. i love the little electric oven we have to make small meals. I hate wasting electricity.

Anh said...

I know what you mean - whenever I move house (and I do move very frequently) it takes me a while to make friends with my oven, too. :)

panda said...

woot to your new oven! i love all the food you make - i'm constantly getting hungry/drooling over your photos :)

panda said...

woot to your new oven! i love all the food you make - i'm constantly getting hungry/drooling over your photos :)

OohLookBel said...

Congratulations on the new oven! It's strange but true that all ovens are different and you have to get to know it and its quirks. The tart you made looks like a winner :D

tigerfish said...

A perfect quiche = a good oven? Yes? :D

chow and chatter said...

oh wow great quiche have loads of fun with your new oven lol Rebecca

TasteHongKong said...

So kisses to your oven, your tart pan, and yourself? This is a beautiful quiche made from scratch : ).

Juliana said...

Wow, what a nice quiche...would love to try it right now ;-)

Trissa said...

Lucky you to get a new oven!! With a rotisserie function as well?! Jealous! I've always wanted one of those... And the tart looks delicious as well. Looking forward to more wonderful treats!

Unknown said...

i musttt try to bake my own quiche soon :D

Patty said...

Delicious!!!! Your quiche looks out of this world! I could easily eat the entire thing in one sitting, no problem! Also, congrats on the electric oven - I think having one of m own would make me feel less guilty about baking things, particularly when it is hot has heck outside and would require my AC to work double time!

sweetlife said...

wonderful quiche, and it looks like your oven is a winner!!! perfect

sweetlife

Adriana said...

It sounds like you didn't take long to get adjusted to your new oven because your quiche looks delicious!

I always have to bake a few things before I get to know a new oven. I even test baking sheets before making something special. :)

Adriana

shaz said...

Ha ha, a great day of oven testing. Yay for new oven. The quiche looks fantastic.

I find it helpful to have an oven thermometer sitting in the oven (they're not expensive), because I find with my (electric) oven, it takes quite a long time to preheat.

Ju (The Little Teochew) said...

Hope you have loads of fun using your new oven! Your quiche looks perfect!

grub said...

wow your quiche looks quite tasty!! thanks for the idea i think i might do the same this weekend if time permits :D

My Little Space said...

The tart looks great! I'm so proud of you, Von. You did a great job on this one. Have a fun day!
Cheers, kristy

Weng @ I heart My Bakes said...

Looks great!!!! Here am I dropping by for the first time. Great blog you have!!

A Canadian Foodie said...

This is the most gorgeous Quiche, Von! When I discovered you in January, I was enthralled, and I just spend a very enjoyable hour going through so many of your cooking and eating adventures again today. You are truly amazing. Your photography is excellent. I loved the buns and little cookie kissed... and I would love to get your new posts in my mail. I will look to see if you have that feature, but if not... please add it on!
:)
valerie

Anonymous said...

I thing it may good to eat that I saw recpies in ur blogs...........
Pizza Equipment

Tiago said...

I just love the tart with the mixed chopped scallions and basil, it is mouth-watering really, this is breakfast time and I am already feeling like eating! When I travelled to Argentina, I was in one of those buenos aires apartment and I learnt a lot of receipes to learn how to cook steak and pasta.
Now I can call myself experienced!

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