I am getting into mahjong. About ten years ago, a friend approached me about taking a mahjong class and at the time, I thought it was the weirdest thing. I mean, who plays mahjong? But she and some other girls took the lessons and got up a little group that plays almost every Friday with a rotating roster of players. They have so much fun and make snacks and cocktails and have cute tile sets and tablecloths. I started to feel left out. So three other ladies and I took some lessons and now we play occasionally, while we hope to be called up to the big leagues sometime. I didn’t at the beginning have a set or a table so we played at other houses, and I became (as usual) the snack lady. We normally play in the morning, so I have developed a whole list of one-handed snack foods that can be eaten while playing. They will (and have) show up here. Cheese straws and snack mixes and cookies and bars and coffee cakes. When tasked with bringing lunch one time, I was a little flummoxed – time was tight, I was busy with many things, didn’t have the energy for fiddly tea sandwiches. And who is going to eat a salad with a fork while concentrating on the tiles? Quiche seemed like a good idea, but couldn’t I do better? I kept remembering an English dish called cheese flan and searched recipes online. A lot of reading and thinking left me with the basic idea of a large cheesy pie, but with a few oomphy additions. And a really easy version. So here we are.
I am a little lazy about this (it’s kind of the point) so I use purchased rolled piecrusts and just sort of squish them to fit the pan. I leave some crust overhanging the sides of the pan and shave them off when the crust is parbaked – I find this gives you a neat edge and keeps the crust from shrinking too much when cooking. This pie is all about the cheddar, so use a good one. I like English or Irish sharp or extra sharp. Many of the base cheese flan recipes add some English mustard which is very sharp and spicy and good addition, but I don’t keep it on hand and this only needs a little. I just dissolve some regular mustard powder in the half and half, but you can use English mustard powder or the prepared kind (like Colman’s) to taste if you like.
This can be served warm from the oven or at room temperature. You can make it the day before, loosely cover and refrigerate, then warm up in a low oven the next day. Cut it into large squares or smaller pieces. A big dish like this makes a lot of excellent finger food sized snacks. You can serve it with a salad or a bowl of soup for a meal too.
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Ingredients
2 refrigerated pie crusts
2 8-ounce blocks of sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
6 green onions, finely chopped
Flaky salt and fresh ground black pepper
6 large eggs
1 cup half and half (or ½ cup each milk and heavy cream)
1 teaspoon yellow mustard powder
Directions
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Some overhang is good to help lift the pie out of the pan when it is cooked.
- Fit the pie crusts into the pan – I drape them over the pan with some overlap in the middle and some dough hanging off the edges of the pie. Use your fingers to press the dough to fit up the sides of the pan and across the bottom, pressing out from the thick middle. (Some people stack the crust and roll them out into a rectangle to fit). Poke the crust all over with a fork. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with baking beans or dried beans and bake for 12 minutes until the overhanging edges are golden brown. Carefully remove the parchment and baking beans, then use a sharp knife to shear off the overhanging dough to create a smooth edge.
- Sprinkle half of the grated cheese evenly across the crust. Evenly distribute the chopped green onion over the cheese, then sprinkle some salt and pepper over the cheese.
- Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Pour a tablespoon or so of the half and half in a measuring jug and add the mustard powder. Beat well, until the mustard is mostly dissolved, then add the rest. Pour that into the eggs and beat until completely combined. Pour this slowly into the crust, trying not to disturb the cheese and onion. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over evenly over the top of the pie. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the filling is set, with just a little jiggle in the center.
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