Recreating a Processed Quiche as a More Wholesome Product

Transcription

1 Recreating a Processed Quiche as a More Wholesome Product Lab Section: Fall 2013

2 In a day and age of convenience, it is hard to find processed meals that are wholesome. The challenge was presented in Miele Lab to recreate a processed food in a more nutritious and wholesome manner. I choose to recreate Trader Joe s Spinach Mushroom and Cheese Quiche (frozen). Quiches can be packed full of protein and nutrients. I choose to recreate this product for several reasons: one, I thought I could create a healthier version of the quiche; two, I could apply the scientific principles we had learned in class regarding eggs, pastry, dairy and vegetables; and three, I could make an affordable meal that others could replicate. In a quiche the main components are eggs, pastry, dairy and vegetables. The first ingredient to be discussed will be eggs. Eggs are a good source of protein. Per Professor Sim s Power Point lecture slides, a whole egg contains 6.3 g of protein, 5 g of fat and 75 calories. Per Tremblay, egg yolks contain calcium, iron and zinc, which are good nutrients to have in the diet. In addition, egg yolks contain lecithin which acts as an emulsifier and holds the product together better. Eggs do not require high heat when cooking as they can coagulate at 185. Eggs will firm up by the denaturing of the protein and thus cause a permanent change from a liquid state to firm state. Therefore, a low heat technique must be used to ensure the eggs do not overcook. The second component of a quiche is the pastry. As learned in lecture a good pastry is tender and flaky. Pastry is usually made with flour, shortening, a pinch of salt and a little bit of cold water. When reviewing different recipes to make the crust I found a lot of recipes called for shortening. I choose not to use a shortening recipe as I felt this was too much trans fat and a decent pastry could be made without it by using butter instead. This is one way I was trying to make a more wholesome version of the crust. I was able to find a few recipes that used butter. Refer to Appendix A for the Perfect Pie Crust recipe. With regards to nutritious value, unfortunately the crust is probably the least healthy due to the refined grain and butter. Butter is 80% milk fat according to lecture. However, butter is better than shortening in that it does not contain trans fat. Dairy is a third element in quiche. Per Professor Sim s Power Point lecture slides, milk is a good source of protein, vitamins and calcium. In addition, cheese is also a good source of protein and Vitamin A, but contains high amounts of saturated fat and salt. Many recipes call for the use of cream in a quiche to give it a richer flavor. However, heavy cream is higher in fat content containing more than 36% milk fat. A way in which I attempted to make a more nutritious quiche was to lower the fat content of the dairy by using whole milk instead of heavy cream, using a smaller quantity of it and use less cheese than what the Joy of Cooking recipe required (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 ½ cups shredded Swiss cheese to ¾ cup whole milk and ¼ cup shredded Swiss cheese). Page 2

3 Vegetables are the last ingredient of the quiche to be discussed. Per lecture, vegetables contain a lot of nutrients and minerals. In particular, spinach is a good source of Vitamin A. To retain the dark green color of the spinach it was microwaved on high for 1 minute. This was done to retain the color, but also to remove excess liquid from the spinach to prevent it from creating a soggy quiche. When preparing the mushrooms a damp paper towel was used to brush off dirt. Then using knife skills learned in class the shallots and garlic were minced and the mushrooms were chopped. These components led to the creation of a recipe for a more wholesome quiche. In the processed quiche from Trader s Joe s there were many familiar ingredients. The processed product contained the following for the filling: milk, eggs, Swiss cheese, cream, mushrooms, corn starch, spinach, dehydrated onions, chives, salt and spices. The pastry consisted of enriched flour, butter, sunflower oil, water, salt and soy lecithin. At first glance all of these ingredients seemed to be ok. Upon further examination, however, the nutrition label revealed how unhealthy it actually was. One serving of quiche, which measured 4 inches in diameter, contained 15 g of saturated fat, 0.5 g of trans fat, 200 mg cholesterol, 730 mg sodium and had 400 calories. The highest daily recommended value was saturated fat with a value of 75%. When I created my quiche I referenced recipes that already existed and adapted my own recipe. I used the Joy of Cooking and other sources to see what the ratios of eggs and milk were. I realized that the average number of eggs used was 4, which I replicated. I chose to have less milk than what the Joy of Cooking called for. I did this in part because I had more vegetables that had liquid in them such as spinach and mushrooms. The Joy of Cooking recipe called for 1 cup of heavy cream, but I chose to use ¾ cup of whole milk to offset the natural liquid in the vegetables. I also further reduced the liquid by precooking the spinach in the microwave to extract more liquid prior to baking. The quiche I created contained the following ingredients in the filling: shallots, garlic, baby spinach, cremini mushrooms, zucchini, Swiss cheese, Laughing Cow Cheese, eggs, whole milk, salt and pepper. The pastry consisted of all-purpose flour, butter, salt, sugar and water. Part of making a good pastry crust is making sure to use very cold butter when cutting into the flour. This will help provide a flaky crust. In comparison to the processed product, the quiche I created contained fresh ingredients. I used more vegetables and lower fat items, such as the Laughing Cow Cheese and only whole milk, instead of both milk and cream. As learned in lecture, heavy cream consists of more than 36% milk fat compared to whole milk which contains about 3% milk fat. By using whole milk instead of heavy cream the calories will be reduced dramatically. The processed quiche tended to be high in fat, sodium and cholesterol. Page 3

4 In addition, for my curst I did not use the preservative soy lecithin. I learned from class that lecithin is usually found in egg yolk and used as an emulsifier. According to Greene, soy lecithin is used to stabilize an emulsion of a product and thus increase the shelf life. My quiche had natural lecithin from the 4 eggs I used. However, with a frozen product the preservative would be needed to make sure the shelf life lasted longer. For example the use by date on the package stated November 20, This means the frozen quiche had to be able to last a year in the freezer. When tasting the processed quiche versus the homemade quiche there were quite a few differences with regards to chew, mouth-feel, taste, flavor and shelf-life. First, the frozen quiche had mushy vegetables that were somewhat watery with a dry, crumbly crust. I could taste the flour and denseness of the pastry, which gave a slight stale flavor to it. There was no distinct flavor beyond egg. It was as if the egg and vegetables had been pureed and poured into a pastry shell. In comparison the quiche I created had a nice light golden brown, flaky, buttery crust. The egg mixture was creamy, velvety and custard like. The vegetables were al dente and had a nice crispness to them. The quiche was seasoned nicely and with all the vegetables and different kinds of cheeses it gave it a nice flavor balance. It was light and not too heavy. In addition the appearance of the homemade quiche was a lot more appealing to the eye than the frozen. The frozen quiche formed a shiny skin on top and was flat with no texture. It was a grayish yellow with little bits of green. The edges of the quiche did brown slightly, but not evenly. When a cross section was viewed it looked condensed. It also had odd coloration from where the layer of egg was and what appeared to be a layer of onions on the bottom of the quiche. In comparison, the homemade quiche had an even distribution of egg and vegetables. There were chunks of gooey Swiss cheese on the top, bright green leaves of spinach, large pieces of mushroom and zucchini that looked mouthwatering. An observation of the two quiches was made over the course of 7 days. Refer to Appendix C for pictures of the quiches on various days. After 1 day of making the quiches (Day 2) the processed quiche held its shape and still had the same dry, crumbly crust and mushy vegetables. It also lost the sheen on the top and became dull in color. In comparison, the homemade quiche s color, crispness of the vegetables, and creaminess of the quiche were just as good as when it was first made. By day 4 the appearance of the processed quiche further deteriorated. It became grayish, shriveled and pasty looking. The flavor became more bland and it really was not enjoyable to eat as it was watery, dry and flavorless. In comparison, the homemade quiche still had nice chunks of vegetables, even though they were starting to breakdown and were not as firm. The color was dulling and was not quite as vibrant. The cheese started to break down and when reheated in a toaster oven had a somewhat runny texture. Page 4

5 The flavor was still good, but the natural break down of the ingredients made the texture a little less desirable. By the 7 th day I did not taste either quiche due to concern of edibility. However, based on appearance the processed quiche looked somewhat pasty, yet dry and the color had further darkened. The homemade quiche still held its shape, but was slightly watery on top. The mushrooms had shriveled, the spinach was soggy looking and the Swiss cheese was liquefying. However, the Laughing Cow Cheese did not break down much. By the 7 th day the natural decomposition of food would probably not provide the best taste. It would become stale and rancid. When deciding to purchase a processed quiche versus making a homemade quiche there are several things to take in consideration: time, labor, equipment required, and cost. If a person is short on time the tendency would be to reach for a ready-made food such as a frozen quiche. It sells for $2.29 for one serving and it takes 3 minutes if microwaved or 24 minutes if baked in an oven. This makes it very simple for a consumer to prepare: open package, heat and serve. However, with a processed quiche the freshness and flavor is lacking and it is unhealthy. In order for the product to withstand time sitting in the freezer section at a store it must be processed with additional salt and other preservatives, thus lessening the nutritional value. Therefore, making a homemade quiche definitely gives you a better tasting product and is more nutritious. The only potential downside of making a quiche is the overall time it takes to create from scratch. The process of making the pie shell and then the quiche took about two and one-half hours. There was only about 30 minutes of active preparation time while the rest of time was inactive. This could be a big deterrent for a person who has limited time. Making the filling of a quiche requires knowing how to chop, sauté, grate, mix and pour. The more challenging skill comes when making the pastry. You want to make sure not to overwork the dough; this takes practice and thus may be more challenging for people to do. However, in this day and age of YouTube, one could watch an instructional video to understand the concept better. So there is some skill involved, but can be learned minimally. The required equipment needed to make a quiche is: a pie plate, pie weights (or dry beans), a rolling pin (or a cleaned glass jar of mayo with the label removed that has a thick wall), a pastry fork, measuring cups, measuring spoons, knife, fork, large bowl, a grater, a small skillet and a spatula. The majority of homes have these kitchen utensils and equipment. Therefore, I believe this product can be replicated with ease. Lastly, my quiche recipe, which serves six, cost about $6.75 to make or $1.13 per serving. As a per serving price this was more affordable than the processed quiche. The majority of the ingredients are items found in most kitchens. Items to be purchased would be vegetables and cheese. The price Page 5

6 break out was as follows: whole milk $0.37 per cup (per the Miele Lab manual on equivalents 1qt = 4 cups, thus $1.49/4 = $0.37); mushrooms $0.90 for 4 oz; 3 oz of organic baby spinach for $1.00 (a 6 oz bag cost $1.99/2); zucchini $0.46 each; shallots $0.50 each; garlic $0.5 (head of garlic $0.99 ; Laughing Cow Cheese $1.50 for 4 wedges (1 container containing 8 wedges at $2.99); Swiss cheese $0.28 per oz ($4.49 per pound/16 oz = $0.28 per oz); eggs $0.66 for 4 eggs (one dozen at $1.99/12 = $0.17 per egg); flour $0.19 for 1 ¼ cups (a 5lb bag of flour is about $2.50 (on sale). 1 cup of flour equals about 4 1/2oz, thus ($0.31 per oz x 4 ½ oz) + (4 ½ oz /4 x $0.31 per oz)); butter $0.75 per stick of butter ($2.99 for 4 sticks of butter/4). This cost is quite affordable and the products are readily available. Therefore, I believe that if a person could set aside some time, then this quiche could be made more wholesome and cost efficient than a processed quiche. Page 6

7 Appendix A: Recipes Perfect Pie Crust 1 ¼ cups of All Purpose Flour ½ teaspoon of salt ½ teaspoon of sugar ½ cup (1 stick of cold butter) cut into small ½ inch pieces 3-4 Tablespoons of ice water Whisk together flour, salt and sugar until well combined. Cut in cold butter with pastry cutter (or fork if no pastry cutter) until mixture resembles coarse corn meal with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until mixture just begins to clump together. Place dough in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape the dough mixture into a disk. Wrap disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour Remove pastry disk from refrigerator after one hour and let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F Roll out dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place rolled out dough onto a 9 inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Line pie curst with aluminum foil. Fill at least 2/3 full with pie weights (if no pie weights, can use dry beans, rice or stainless steel pie weights) Bake with weights for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cool a few minutes and carefully remove pie weights. Poke small holes in the bottom of the pie crust with a fork and return to oven (without weights) and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Remove and let cool. Spinach, Mushroom, Zucchini and Swiss Cheese Quiche Filling (adapted from Joy of Cooking) 1 shallot, minced 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 3 ounces fresh baby spinach (ready to serve, ½ a bag) 2 Tablespoons of water Page 7

8 4 ounces of cremini mushrooms, sliced into ¼ inch thick slices, about 1 cup. (Button mushrooms can be substituted) 1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise down center, sliced into ¼ inch thick slices ¼ cup of Swiss cheese, grated 4 wedges of Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese, cut into small cubes 4 large eggs ¾ cup whole milk 1 teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon ground pepper While the curst is baking per the Perfect Pie Crust recipe above, the following can be done: On medium heat in a small skillet heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté garlic and shallots until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Place spinach in a large microwave safe bowl and add 2 Tablespoons of water. Cover with a tea towel or three paper towels thick and microwave on high for 1 minute. After cooking spinach in microwave place spinach in colander to drain excess liquid. Then place spinach in tea towel and squeeze out additional moisture (about 1/3 cup). In a separate bowl mix vegetables, shallots and garlic. Once pie shell is baked and cooled, place vegetable mixture in prebaked pie shell. Spread laughing cow cheese cubes evenly over vegetables. In a small bowl beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour egg/milk mixture into prebaked pie shell over vegetable mixture. Sprinkle grated Swiss cheese over top. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 F. Remove from oven, cool for about 5 minutes and then serve. Page 8

9 Appendix B: References Bauer, E. (2005, June 1). Perfect Pie Crust Simply Recipes, Retrieved from Greene, A. (2013, March 13). Soy Lecithin: Why Is It In Everything? Huffpost Taste, Retrieved from Rombauer Becker, M., Rombauer, I., Becker, E. (2006) Joy of Cooking (75 th anniversary edition) New York, New York: Scribner. SFSU Faculty, (2013) HTM/DFM/CFS 352: Food Production & Service Lab Book Fall 2013, San Francisco State University, XanEdu Publishing, Inc. Sim, J. (2013, September 16) Nutrition Water, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Vitamins and Minerals. Power Point lecture presented in HSS Room 135 on San Francisco State University campus. Sim, J. (2013, September 30) Dairy Products milk and cheese products. Power Point lecture presented in HSS Room 135 on San Francisco State University campus. Sim, J. (2013, October 7) Eggs. Power Point lecture presented in HSS Room 135 on San Francisco State University campus. Tremblay, L. (2013). How Healthy is Quiche SF Gate, Retrieved from Page 9

10 DAY 1 Appendix C: Pictures Page 10

11 Day 2 Day 4 Day 7 Page 11