Quiche Me You Fool

quiche me you fool

Quiche is the kind of satisfying and easy meal you can throw together in practically no time. Making the crust takes the most time, but you can use a pre-made one (if you must) or keep a stack of your own in the freezer. A frozen crust will thaw in the time it takes you to assemble the filling. Most people are familiar with quiche Lorraine, which is a classic French version made with bacon, onions and Gruyere cheese. I love quiche Lorraine, and I’m often disappointed when I order it at a restaurant and I am served one with ham not bacon, but I am a purist about these things.

Quiche is one of those versatile dishes that can accommodate whatever you have in your fridge. You can even make a crust-less one if you want to skip the time or calories of a crust; I love those for breakfast. While shopping for this one the store I was at didn’t have a good cheese selection, so I got something called smoked gruyere. Because this was going to be vegetarian I thought the smokiness would add some depth of flavor which it did, though it lacked the creamy, and sharp, nuttiness of a good quality cave aged Gruyere. If you can, get the real deal, it’s well worth it. You’ll see I cubed my cheese, but it didn’t melt the way I expected it to, so I’d recommend grating your cheese. Gruyere will melt better than this ersatz cheese did.

Traditional quiche has three components; crust, custard and filling. I had some lard in my fridge, so I made mine with half lard and half butter, but I am a fan of an all butter crust for quiche. Custard is one of those ratios I recall from culinary school; 6-8 eggs to one quart of cream. This is the same for anything made with custard including ice cream, French toast, quiche or any baked custard. For a quiche you’ll need three eggs and 2 cups of cream (same ratio halved). The filling or flavorings can be anything that appeals to you and that will work with cheese and custard. Ham or smoked turkey are prefect, leftover veggies are great, or even cooked potatoes or raw tomato. Think about anything you’d want on a grilled cheese, and start quiching!

Spinach-Mushroom Quiche

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Serves	6
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	45 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 15 minutes
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Breakfast, Lunch, Main Dish

Ingredients

crust

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons cold butter (or half butter, half lard)
4-5 tablespoons ice water

custard

3 Large eggs
2 cups cream
1 pinch nutmeg

filling

1 bag baby spinach (5-6 ounces)
6oz mushrooms (sliced thin)
1 tablespoon butter
4oz cheese; gruyere or aged cheddar (grated)

Note

As you can see I cubed my cheese, but grating is preferable.

This recipe is a basic quiche recipe, and you can add whatever you have around, it is a perfect place for leftover meat and/or veggies.

To make this quiche Lorraine, use 6 ounces of good bacon. Cook until crisp and crumble. Drain most of the fat from the pan, and sauté half od a large Spanish onion in the bacon fat. Use good quality Gruyere cheese (it will melt better than the pre-packaged grocery store Gruyere.

Directions

Step 1
To make crust: Put flour and salt into bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine Cut butter into small pieces (about 1/2" cubes) Add butter to processor and pulse until dough is like coarse meal Add 3 TBL water to dough, and pulse, add more water as needed and pulse until dough starts to come together. Turn contents out onto a 12x12" (approx.) square of parchment
Step 2
Working quickly and lightly, work dough into a cohesive ball, them press into a disc about 4" by 1" thick Wrap dough in the same parchment and refrigerate for one hour, or overnight
Step 3
To roll out dough, remove dough from parchment, and flour parchment, putting dough back in the center of the square. Flour the top of the disc, and begin rolling into a 12" circle Don't worry about cracks, you can repair them easily but dampening fingers and pressing dough back together.
Step 4
Roll dough around rolling pin, and unroll into a 9" deep pie pan Press dough into the pan, making sure to get the dough into the edges Trim around edge of dough allowing a 1" overhang, save dough scraps Roll the dough outward, forming a thick roll around the top edge of pan, using dough scraps to make up for any gaps.
Step 5
To make the crimped border around the top (which will act to keep the liquid in the shell) work around the edge pressing the you index finger into the roll, using the thumb and index finger of your other hand to press your finger into. Repair any crack or holes with dough scraps.
Step 6
Preheat oven to 350F Make the custard by mixing the egg, cream and nutmeg
Step 7
Blanche the spinach but putting in boiling water for twenty seconds, and moving it to an ice water bath. Drain spinach and squeeze as much water as you can from the spinach
Step 8
Melt the butter over medium heat, and sauté mushrooms until they have released their liquid and it has evaporated, about 7-8 minutes
Step 9
Lay the cheese in the bottom of the crust, top with spinach and mushrooms put the pie pan on a sheet tray lined with parchment of foil Pour the custard into the pie shell, and put it in the oven, bake for 45-55 minutes until custard is set, but still a little jiggly. Let sit for 15 minutes to set, and serve hot or at room temperature.