Hodgepodge Quiche

Quiche is magical. The dish claims its origins from the French-German border and was originally a savory egg and cream pie. It starts with a few basic ingredients, a crust, eggs, a milk product, and cheese if you wish. Though, even these ingredients are not sacred. Quiches can be vegan omitting, eggs, milk and cheese for various plant based products (usually tofu). For me eggs, milk, some cheese and oil and flour to make a crust are ingredients almost ever present in my kitchen. This makes quiches a common occurrence in my house, especially in the summer. After you've figured out the and crust, what makes up the rest of the quiche is entirely up to you.

Dennis is suspicious of any quiche that does not contain a meat product, and doubly suspicious if a meatless Quiche also happens to contain spinach. Not that this stops me from experimenting. Some of my favorite combination are broccoli-cheddar, smoked salmon and mushroom, and ham or bacon plus mushrooms, onions and whatever vegetables happen to be in the freezer (often spinach) or vegetable drawer.

When I make Quiche, I usually combine a few different recipes and my own unique twists. How many ingredients you need for a quiche depends on the size of the pan your filling and how you prefer your custard/filling ratio. What I usually do is get the crust and filling together, and then pour the filling over until my pie plate can hold no more. If I end up with too much custard I have found that an extra dish of cooked eggs and milk is no hardship to eat as a lazy breakfast.

I've made quiche from recipes originating in many different cookbooks. But, I'm not sure I really got the idea of quiche, and how simple it is until reading the "Quiche Formula" in The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Mollie Katzen reduces Quiche to a crust (she gives 8 different crust options, the spinach crust being the reason the Dennis is suspicious of spinach quiche), the cheese, the filling (veggies), and the custard. The cookbook is worth having on the shelf for its vegetable pie and quiche section alone.

To make a Quiche:

1: A Crust (hint: you can go to your local grocery and skip making one by hand-- though the ones at the grocery are usually loaded with nasty hydrogenated fat)

Pie crusts are one of my prime nemeses. I'm not sure why. I think part of it is that my mother makes such perfect pie crusts that no matter how hard I try mine always seem inferior. That, and I can't seem to get them to stop sticking to the rolling pin (another arch enemy). They fall apart when I try to put them in the dish and always end up looking crumbly. That said, I have had a few zen pie crust experiences, where everything came together perfectly.

Most of the time I am just glad that quiche only have a crust on the bottom. Without a top crust to deal with I have figured out how to make a decent crust in the pie plate, without any rolling. As most of it is covered by quiche filling, if there happens to be any spots that break, or tear, or have to be patched up, well... no one knows but me, and I don't usually tell.

Recently, I have been experimenting with olive oil pie crusts, in an attempt to convince myself that pie crust can be healthy. I also make the spinach crust from Enchanted Broccoli Forest which I find goes well with Quiche (poll Dennis separately).

For a Spinach Crust (The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest, pg. 127)

2 Tbs butter or oil
3/4 lb fresh spinach
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup fine bread crumbs (or wheat germ)
A few dashes of nutmeg.

If using frozen spinach, unthaw drain excess water. Place in bowl add melted butter and the rest of ingredients and toss with a fork until combined. Press into a pie plate by pressing up the edges of the plate first and then into the bottom. This ensures that you have enough crust to go around the entire circumference of your pie plate, if the bottom is thinner it is not that big of a deal. If want flute the edges( a good explanation on how to do this in most basic Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks) with fingers or a fork if you wish.

Fluting the edges of a pie crust was something that intimidated me for a long time, all you need to do is on your non-dominant hand press your index finger and your thumb together. Place these fingers next to the crust you want to flute (I usually place them on the inside of the pie plate). With your other hand take your index finger and from the opposite side of the crust press the crust into the slight V created by your other fingers. Repeat around the entire circumference of the pie plate.

If using fresh spinach. Mince the spinach and heat 2 Tbs. butter or oil in a large skillet. Add minced spinach and salt. Saute until spinach is limp. Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Press into plate and flute edges as above.

Fresh or frozen this crust should be baked for about 15 mins. in a 375 degree oven before filling. You do not need to let it cool before filling

If your interested in trying an olive oil crust. Place the below in a pie plate.

2/3 cup of extra virgin Olive Oil
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Place pie plate in the freezer and move onto sauteing your veggies and getting your custard ready. When everything is ready to go, take the pie plate out of the freezer and with a fork, or a pastry blender mix the flour and the now thick olive oil together. When well mixed add 1/2 cup ice water and a dash of vinegar and mix. Press into the pie plate and flute edges as above. Adding more flour to your hands if necessary to prevent excessive sticking. I do not usually precook my crusts when I use olive oil. If you would like to preheat oven to 375, cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 mins.

Now that your crust is made.
2: The Cheese

There are three ways to put cheese on and in quiche, all equally important. If you are adding cheese, first, you always want to add some to the crust first, before any of the veggies or custard. The cheese will help to create a barrier between the filling and the crust and prevent your crust from getting sticky. Second, many people like to grate a small amount of Parmesan or other cheese on top of everything to help with browning, though this is not essential. However, it is tasty, and improves presentation. Finally, if you really love cheese, add grated cheese (or cubed cream cheese) to your custard.

So for the cheese, you need about 1/3 lb. (more if you love cheese and less if your counting calories) of grated or finely cubed cheese. You can use any kind of cheese (even cream cheese), though Swiss, Gruyere, and Cheddar work quite well. Sprinkle most (or all) of this on the bottom of your crust. You can add any remaining cheese to your custard, or to the top of the Quiche before you bake.


3: The Filling:

You need about 3 1/2 cups of chopped meats and/or veggies for a 10 inch Quiche, or about 3 cups for a 9 inch quiche. On the quiche pictured I used a combination of onion, mushrooms, zucchini, and Goose The Market bacon (from Dennis' bacon of the month club).

1/3 cup bacon
1 cup diced onion
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 cups zucchini

Always saute your onions and/or bacon(meat) with a tsp of oil over medium heat for at least 5 minutes. I try to get my onions to brown and caramelize slightly before making adding the rest of your veggies to the pan. Once onions and meat are cooked to your satisfaction add the rest of the veggies and continue to saute for 2 to 3 more minutes. The goal is to get the veggies partially cooked before baking the quiche. It also can work to steam the veggies before adding them to the quiche. Whatever veggies and meats you want to add will work. My favorite quiches almost always contain mushrooms and onions, though this is not a requirement. After 2 to 3 minutes take your veggies off the heat, and put them into the cheese filled crust.

Finally:
3. The custard

A custard for a quiche can be as light or as rich as you like it to be. The Fiddle Head Cookbook suggests about 2 cups of half and half and 4 eggs for a 10 inch pie plate. This is delicious, but for me it is a bit too rich. If you want rich mix:

2 cups half and half
4 eggs
a dash of cayenne
1/2 a cup of Parmesan (or other reserved cheese)
(add 1/2 to 1 tsp salt if not adding cheese, the cheese itself is salty)

(reduce this to 3 eggs and 1 1/2 cup of half and half if using a 9 inch pie crust.)

and pour over assembled quiche until the plate is full.

I prefer to use Mollie Katzen's suggestions for the quiche custard:
3 eggs
1 cup of milk (or yogurt/buttermilk)
(and any extra reserved cheese you want to add to the custard or 1/2 to 1 tsp salt)

Mix together and pour over the filling.

If you have extra custard put in a separate dish and bake with the quiche for about 10 minutes. It does make a decent breakfast.


If desired sprinkle extra cheese or grate Parmesan over the top of the assembled quiche to help with browning of the top.

Heat your oven to 375 and bake the quiche for 35 to 40 minutes.

Quiche is tasty hot and cold and good to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It keeps well in the fridge, and if you like it hot is fine when heated in the microwave. I like quiche as a dinner with soup and a salad (pictured with German Mushroom Soup and a green salad).

Quiche may seem complicated, but actually it does not take long to assemble (once you master the crust). Just remember, crust (always can be bought a store), cheese (optional), filling (assorted meat and veggies), custard(eggs and milk). That's all there is to quiche.