THE PIED PIPER (Krysař), Directed by Jirí Barta 1986


I've just watched one of the most beautiful stop-motion claymation films ever. It's a Czech adaptation of the old German folklore, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, where the beautiful music from a piper's pipe leads the rats of a rat-infested town to their deaths, then the piper leads the townspeople's children away in retaliation for not getting paid.

The films original Czech name is Krysař (The Rat Catcher) and its English title is The Pied Piper. Filming was complete in 1985 and was released in 1986. The ending is different than any previously written versions, as far as I know. It's dark, haunting, creepy, and so so beautiful.




Please watch the twelve minute making-of below.




QUICHE RECIPES FROM TASTEOFHOME.COM


These are my own photos of quiche's I've made from recipes at TasteOfHome.com.


BROCCOLI HAM QUICHE


This is made with two types of cheese. I didn't use the ham/thyme/rosemary nor did I use a pie crust. I used finely diced white onion in place of green onion. I used 1.5c. precooked frozen broccoli florets (8 minutes in quart bowl in microwave with lots of water, covered with plastic wrap) instead of only 1/2c. I used a 10" pie plate because someone's review said it was too much mixture for a 9" plate. It baked in 55 minutes but I think it was done at the 45 minute mark. The bottom is a bit tough from all that cheese (2c.!).

This is excellent but I'll cut down to just 1c. of cheese next time and bake it for 45 minutes. No one mentioned in their review that their raw broccoli was undercooked but I just can't see it cooking much in this mixture...so please precook yours. I did mine the night before, drained the water off then covered it with a clean piece of plastic wrap and refrigerated it.

Recipe is here.



ITALIAN QUICHE


This recipe makes two quiches so I made half the recipe and didn't use a pie crust because it's so unnecessary. This smells unbelievable. It has a little bit of Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top. I used Kraft Parmesan & Romano blend. I used just one cup of mozzarella cheese, not two. I left out the red and green peppers. I added 1/4t. salt and it could have used more. I added pepper. I used half and half cream instead of milk. I used a 10" pie plate but I didn't need one that big and will use my 9"/1qt. dish next time. Mine baked in 28 minutes.

I used a 19oz. Johnsonville Italian sausage pack containing five thick links. I cut the casings off each link, cut each link lengthwise then diced it and fried it. After it cooled I stored it in a zip-top freezer bag and froze it. You don't need to thaw it before using it in your quiche.

You can find the recipe here.




CHEESY BROCCOLI AND HAM QUICHE


This is beyond good and is my top favorite quiche. I used a 9"/1qt. pie plate. It has a shredded hash brown crust*. I think an extra 1c. of shredded hash browns is needed. It has precooked broccoli, chopped ham lunch meat, raw onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cheese. This quiche doesn't have much milk in it, just 1/2c., and I used half and half cream instead. I used a little less salt than called for and it's a good thing I did because the ham is very salty and this was almost too salty. Next time I'll use just 1/4t. I used equal parts mild cheddar cheese and mozzarella. I also used a lot more broccoli that I precooked in the microwave the night before. I'll add more milk next time so it's moister.

I didn't microwave this like the recipe said to. I baked it instead on 350 degrees F for 28 minutes. Your quiche is done when a knife that's been inserted in the center comes out clean and there's not much jiggle left.

Recipe is here.

*I think it would be best if you thawed the hash browns in a microwave-safe bowl then pressed them into a nonstick foil-lined pie plate because the hash browns stick to the glass plate a little.



SPINACH BACON QUICHE



This recipe has frozen and well drained chopped spinach, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, cheese, ground mustard, paprika, onion, and bacon in it. Though not part of the recipe I used frozen shredded hash browns, thawed, for the crust since I had some I needed to use up. I recommend lining your glass pie plate with nonstick foil whenever you use thawed shredded hash browns because they stick a little to glass.

This is good. I used a 10" pie plate for this. You can't really taste the spinach much, which isn't a bad thing. I was supposed to use a whole 10oz box of spinach but I only used about 1.5c. from a 16oz. bag. This needs more salt and because it's a bit too moist, less milk. I think I'll use 1.5c. next time instead of 2c. I used 2T. bacon bits instead of strips of cooked bacon, since I never buy bacon, just the bits, and it's the right amount. I used far less raw onion than called for but it wasn't enough.

The recipe is here.



ITALIAN SAUSAGE QUICHE


Very good and I'll definitely make this again. I used an 8.5"/1qt. pie dish. I used finely chopped cooked sausage links (Johnsonville), just enough to cover the bottom of this dish, about 1c. I left out the green pepper, jalapeño, and parsley. I used dried chives in place of raw white onion. I used 1/8t. dried basil in place of a lot of fresh basil. I didn't use a crust. Mine is a little overbaked at 37 minutes. I think it was finished at 28 minutes.

The recipe is here.



HAM 'N' CHEESE QUICHE


This one turned out to be pretty bland. The recipe was supposed to make two but as you can see it was only enough for one 9"/1qt dish. I cut back on the half and half by 1/4c. but it's still too moist and probably should have used less than half than what was called for, not 2c. I used less ham and less cheese. This one I wouldn't make again.

Recipe is here.




CRUSTLESS CHICKEN QUICHE


This turned out great. I made half the recipe in a 8.5"/1qt. pie dish. I added 1c. of precooked broccoli florets that I chopped even smaller. I used just 1T. bacon bits but I'll leave those out next time. I used 1/2c. finely shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/2c. of one called Fiesta Blend, which is a mixture of four cheeses. I used half a can of drained white meat chicken breast that I shredded. The recipes uses no salt or pepper so I added 3/8t. salt and 1/4t. pepper and it's the right amount. I used 1/2c. heavy cream. I didn't precook onion with garlic. I used just 1T. finely chopped white onion and used a scant 1/8t. garlic powder. Mine baked in 25 minutes. Because this didn't have much liquid in it it's not watery and is very firm, which is how I prefer quiche to be. I'll definitely make this again, minus the bacon bits.

The recipe is here.



TWO-CHEESE SPINACH QUICHE


I used a standard 9"/1qt. pie plate. I left out the mushroom, used 1c. cooked and drained frozen spinach in place of 1/2c. fresh, added an extra egg and cut back on the half and half cream by 1/4c. I added pepper and 1T. raw white onion, diced. I used 1/2c. finely chopped ham lunch meat (Hillshire Farm). I used a total of 1c. shredded cheese (Fiesta Blend- 4 different cheeses and mozzarella.)

This is very good. Because I used less liquid and added an extra egg this is firm and not too moist like ones that use a lot of liquid. I could have used a little less ham because it's a little smoky. This baked in 28 minutes. I didn't use a crust either.

Recipe is here.