Enchanted magical garden or burnt forest?  I am sure you would be wondering how Enchanted could possibly relate to the quiche of Rick Van Elswijk or to my experimenting of food combinations.  These days, more and more food flavour, texture and combinations get so lost in this crazy world, filled to the brim with news of healthy, organic, allergen, special dietary and natural grown.  This all affects us in our personal outlooks. Amidst a kaleidoscope of beautiful, delicious food images, we try to find our way in search of delicious, hearty, healthy, comforting food to satisfy our stomach.

Here’s my interpretation of experimenting and exploring food, this time in form of culinary skills and method. The longer I have been involved in cooking, the more I realise that indeed, it’s a never-ending cooking challenges; the never-ending collection of my cooking creations courage that empower by the promises of an everlasting satisfying dream: we eat to live. We all comes from different backgrounds with different upbringing, culture, viewpoint and experiences. It’s a never-ending and very exciting journey to experiment food combinations and learning from all the chefs, cooks, family and friends.

You will definitely agree with me that the root purpose of food is meant to be eaten by us, food are also shared by us in various cooking methods and ways of consumption differently to live. Its aim is to address focal points in relation to anyone and ways of how to improves the qualities of life. To live to 120 years old, perhaps!!!

It’s not easy to know all the food names combinations or what types is to be avoided because we don’t want to be poison or dead. Rocky burnt forest is meant to be a catalyst for readers to go on the journey of discovering what’s the combination and taste like and perhaps recreate a better version. It’s my tempted failure invention of Enchanted Magical Garden, so I called it Rocky burnt forest. One day perhaps, I will publish my Enchanted Magical garden.  Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

10-12 filo pastry, partially thawed
2 medium size beetroots roasted, cubed
2 bunches asparagus, sliced diagonally
1 handful of green beans, removed stem and cut into bite size
10 Brussels Sprouts, removed stem
4 large eggs
300 ml thickened cream
250 ricotta cheese, plus extra to add in between the vegetables
200 g finely grated Parmesan cheese
Leftovers oil from deep fried previous day to grease and brush on filo
sweet paprika, sprinkle on filo
cinnamon, sprinkle on filo
salt and black pepper

Beetroots ingredient and kitchen equipment

1 small bunch beetroots about 6 medium beetroots
foil
cookies tray and another deep round for water (Opt)

One day in advance

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut off leaves and leave 2 inches of tops, leaving enough to hold. Scrub beetroots thoroughly, then wrap them loosely in foil. No need to dry the beets before wrapping. Wrap each for easiest to roast.

Place the wrapped beetroots on a foil cookies tray in case juices leak; and place on top of another tray with a bit of water about halfway. Roast for 50 to 60 minutes. Check the beetroots every 20 minutes or so. Beetroots are done when skewer inserted easily to the centre of the beetroots.

Set the beetroots aside until cool enough to handle. Hold one of the beets with a paper towel and use the edges of the paper to rub the skin away. The skin should remove easily; if it doesn’t, its likely need to cook for a little longer. When it’s completely cool store in a sandwich bag and place in an airtight container then place in fridge until needed the next day or two.

The next day

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the asparagus, Brussels sprouts and green beans in a microwave save pot with water, cook on high 12 minutes until vegetable is slightly tender. Drain and set aside to cool slightly. Brush a 25 cm (base measurement) quiche plate with a little bit of oil.

Beat eggs, thickened cream and ricotta cheese together to a smooth batter. Place filo on a work surface. Cover with a damp tea towel (this prevents it from drying out).

Brush 2 filo sheets with a little oil and place in the prepared quiche plate, and sprinkle with sweet paprika. The next 2 filo sheets brush with oil and sprinkle with cinnamon. Repeat with the remaining filo sheets and some oil, alternate paprika and cinnamon, turning in each slightly, to line the pan completely.

Place Brussels in a circle on the filo case. Followed by asparagus, beans and beetroots. Season with salt and black pepper. Spoon some ricotta around it, pour egg mixture into the filo filled with vegetables.

Bake for 45-60 minutes or until golden. Serve hot straight from the oven with salads, cold deep fried chicken cut into 2 inches width strips or just eat on its own with sweet chilli sauce. This quiche goes well with a cold beer (Asahi or your choice).

Note: I roasted my beetroot in advance a day. Small beets will cook more quickly than large beets. You might need to cook a bit more if skin isn’t easy to remove. If your oven heat up very hot, reduce it to 180 degree C. You can use any cheese and vegetables that can be baked. Roasted beetroots can be refrigerated whole or sliced in airtight container for up to 1 week.

https://helenscchin.com/2018/11/13/rocky-burnt-forest/

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