Forcemeat Quiche, or What to Do with Your Leftover Gizzards

According to Le Gastronomique, forcemeat is "a seasoned mixture of raw and cooked ingredients, chopped or minced (ground)... Forcemeats are the basis for several pates, meat pies, terrines, and ballottines..." etc. etc. Faced with a Sunday all to himself while I was working a software deployment, my counterpart found inspiration in the concept of forcemeat and decided to prepare a quiche.

The cooked part of the forcemeat was a bit of leftover rabbit from Saturday's dinner. For the raw portion, he dipped into a bag of assorted gizzards and other organs we have in the freezer. These little packets of innards found inside the carcass of most poultry and small game are good to save for future uses such as this. They are a little Chef's Treat, and you never know when they will come in handy to accent sauces and stocks, for an impromptu pate, or for a little meat pie like this.

The meats were minced with some leek to the point of a coarse rustic pate. A traditional quiche crust and egg mixture were also prepared. The forcemeat was added to the prebaked crust with thin slices of a strong French cheese and gently covered with the egg and baked until a lovely golden brown.

While I missed the preparation of this delectable dish, I did get to enjoy a slice after my long Sunday in the office. Gareth's quiche crust continued to melt in my mouth and was actually even better for the prebaking. The forcemeat and the cheese worked well together to create a hearty, slightly musky filling that was tempered by the egg just slightly. It was a fragrant piece of sunshine after a rough and tumble day.

Forcemeat quiche