What we can do without and what we cannot is a line that shifts over time. I spent twenty-four hours thinking I’d lost my smartphone and I felt the loss in a way I wouldn’t have been able to imagine even ten years ago. Then, when a phone was just a phone, all that was necessary was to get the service provider to shut down the number. Now, it’s changing numerous passwords, registering the device as missing, and hoping whoever gets hold of it isn’t interested in the data stored there. Luckily, I found it and I was already in the midst of changing passwords to deal with the Heartbleed problem, so there wasn’t too much time wasted, really. It did make me realize how much I rely on that little piece of technology. It’s a cellphone, sure, but it’s also my mobile office, alarm clock, day planner, magazine rack, and way finder.

It’s debatable whether our reliance on cellphones is good or bad. But something that’s not up for debate, for me at least, is how necessary a good tart dough recipe is in my life. I used to use my mother’s pie crust for most everything, but as I’ve told you before, Dorie’s pâte brisée has made me rethink that. Now, I couldn’t do without it, especially as it works beautifully gluten-free.

This past Friday, our French Fridays recipe was Quiche Maraîchère, which makes good use of pâte brisée to hold a tart so full of leeks, carrots, celery, and red pepper that there’s very little room for the custard that qualifies it as a quiche. There are also very few seasonings, just salt and pepper, because that combination of vegetables creates a complex flavour that needs no embellishment. Mine was slathered with shredded Irish Monastic Cheese, as Kevin’s trying to go vegan and our meals last weekend were meant as a farewell to dairy for him. This quiche was so good it may lead to a setback.

For dessert, we had the Sablé Breton Galette you can see at the top of this post. I used homemade lemon curd on it, but skipped the berries. I’ll be revisiting this recipe again when local strawberries and blueberries make their appearance. This was another dough that worked really well gluten-free (just switch out the flour for an equal weight of an all-purpose gluten-free blend). It’s also another dough that I’ll be making often.

I’ll be interested to see what my list of necessaries looks like in ten years’ time. I expect that a number of the additions will be courtesy of Dorie Greenspan.

Now, I’d love to hear about the things (and recipes) that you can’t do without.

See how the rest of the French Fridays crew liked last week’s recipe here: Quiche Maraîchère and go way back to June of 2013 to see how Doristas fared with their versions of Sablé Breton Galette.