Paris is, of course, the land of gilded meals, meals meant to be shared and celebrated with others, but I learned that the city is also brilliant at serving the lone diner, making them feel nourished spiritually and otherwise.  In Paris one often sees beautiful older women tuck themselves into corner tables for lunch, often a small dog at their feet.  Or a stately gentleman in a crisp blazer might walk into a patisserie and be greeted with a warm, "bon jour, m'sieur!" and have the madam run out from behind the counter to seat him at his favorite banquette.  Paris has been feeding these men and women as long as it’s been opening oysters and pouring white wine.  I learned to spot these situations, and follow.  I had many extremely delicious - and, by nature of the situation traditional meals.

I also learned that the quiche and salad lunch is alive and well in Paris.  We’ve destroyed it here.  On this side of the Atlantic quiche is usually a wet pastry below a dry, flavorless, eggy thing with skin on top.   In France, two days in a row I followed my lone-diner trail to restaurants with cases of quiches so gorgeous, so clearly high and moist, burgeoning with interesting interiors, I simply couldn’t order anything else.  I was no pioneer, but why stray from perfection?  The crusts were tender, but had their own toothsome integrity, a buttery crumbly thing to be enjoyed with the filling, not buried by it.  The fillings were hot, poignantly cheesey custards, all together fabulous museum-going, market-working nourishment.   Put beside one of these quiche a gently tossed salad of butter lettuce and mustard dressing, and you have one of western civilization’s great achievements.

I feel as if I’ve rediscovered a French antique worth bringing home and incorporating into my American life, kind of  like those antique linens I discovered at the Vanves Flea Market in Paris.

The following quiche recipe has no extreme ingredients, but a well-made ham and leek quiche, served out of the oven, has the culinary bones to be a classic star at any of the holiday meals in the next weeks.  Or, to feel very refined, put your dog on a leash, and plant him in the kitchen while you have lunch.

 

 

Ham and Leek Quiche

 

Ingredients

one tart dough recipe for a 9 inch pie

about 3 medium leeks

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

one quarter pound thinly sliced smoked ham

1 cup Gruyère, coarsely grated

1 cup Italian Fontina, coarsely grated

1 cup whole-milk mozzarella, coarsely grated

3 large eggs

one eighth teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

one quarter teaspoon black pepper

one and three quarters cups crème fraîche (from two 8-oz containers)

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Roll out the dough and line a 9-inch pie tin with the rolled out pastry. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.  Line the pan with parchment paper. Fill it with dried beans as a weight. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until just golden brown. Remove the beans (they can be reused for this purpose) and discard the parchment paper.   Now preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Halve the leeks lengthwise and cut crosswise into half-inch pieces, then wash well in a bowl of cold water, agitating leeks. Lift out and drain leeks in a colander and pat dry. Melt butter in a heavy skillet over moderately low heat and cook leeks, stirring occasionally, until very tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Line warm pie shell with sliced ham, overlapping layers as necessary to cover bottom and side of pie shell completely. Toss cheeses together and sprinkle evenly into pie shell (do not pack cheese), then spread leeks evenly on top of cheese. Whisk together eggs, nutmeg, and pepper until combined well, then whisk in crème fraîche until smooth.

Carefully pour half of custard on top of pie filling, gently moving cheese with a spoon to help custard disperse evenly. Slowly add remaining custard in same manner. Cover pie loosely with foil, gently folding edges over crust (keep foil from touching top of cheese mixture) and transfer to a baking sheet.

Bake until center of filling is puffed and set (center will be slightly wobbly but not liquid), about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Cool on a rack at least 20 to 30 minutes before serving (filling will continue to set as it cools). Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Butter Lettuce Salad

 

Ingredients

1 head butter lettuce salad, cleaned and torn into pieces

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Fine sea salt

Fresh ground pepper

about one eighth cup olive oil

Coarse French sea salt

 

Instructions

In a small bowl combine mustard, vinegar, fine sea salt and pepper.  Whisk to combine ingredients. Gradually whisk in the olive oil in a thin stream until emulsified.

Distribute lettuce onto salad plates. Drizzle generously with dressing. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.