I recently spent a weekend in Ashland, Oregon with my mom and sister taking in some great plays (both Shakespeare & modern productions), and wonderful food and beverages at Liquid Assets and Standing Stone Brewing Company.
We also enjoyed some delicious coffee at Rogue Valley Roasting Co. We went because my sister's nephew's half brother is an owner...but we went back because it has a warm, friendly vibe and really good coffee.
I usually come home from this annual trek with a desire to up my culinary game. Quiche sounded good so I read through a number of recipes until I found one I wanted to try. I've made quiche before, but this one intrigued me. I found this recipe at www.epicurious.com. There is a basic pastry crust embedded in the instructions. Use it. It really is the secret to the "quiche-iness" of it.
Madame Quiche's Quiche au Fromage
Ingredients
- One recipe basic pastry (see below in Preparation)
- 6 large eggs
- 2/3 cup heavy cream or crème fraîche
- 1 cup milk (preferably whole)
- 8 ounces gruyère, emmenthal, or other Swiss-type cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg - optional
Preparation
- Basic pastry for One-Crust Tart:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Large pinch sea salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut in small pieces
- 5 to 6 tablespoons chilled water
Place the flour and the salt in the bowl of a food processor and process to mix. Cut the butter in chunks and add it to the flour. Process it, using pulses, until the butter is incorporated into the flour and the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. Add the water and process briefly, using pulses, just until the pastry beings to hold together in large clumps. Turn the pastry out onto a floured work surface and gather it into a ball.
Roll out the pastry to fit a 10-1/2 inch glass or metal pie plate (not removable bottom). Crimp the edges, poke the bottom with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife, and place the pastry in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line the pastry with aluminum foil and pastry weights and bake in the bottom third of the oven until the pastry is golden at the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the aluminum foil and pastry weights. Return the pastry to the oven to bake until the bottom is golden, an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and the milk until thoroughly blended. Season with the salt and pepper, then add the cheese and stir until it is blended, Turn the mixture into the pre-baked pastry, and spread out the cheese evenly over the bottom of the pastry. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg if you've used a Swiss-type cheese, and bake in the center of the oven until the filling is golden and puffed, and is completely baked through, about 30 minutes. To test for doneness, shake the quiche - if it is solid without a pool of uncooked filling in the center, it is done. You may also stick a sharp knife blade into the center of the filling and if it comes out clean, the quiche is baked through. Remove the quiche from the oven and serve immediately.
Bacon and Cheese Quiche:
To make a bacon and cheese quiche (one reader reminded me that Alsace is the home of the quiche, which to deserve its name there has bacon, not ham, in it - ham is a Normandy variation), remove the rind from 4 ounces good-quality slab bacon, and cut it into thick slices, then cut the slices in half, lengthwise, and crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place these in a heavy pan over medium heat and cook the bacon until it is crisp. Drain it on a paper-towel covered plate, and sprinkle it over the pre-baked pastry before adding the custard.
Onion and Cheese Quiche:
Peel and halve a medium-sized yellow onion. Cut it in quarters then slice the onion paper-thin. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the onions and stir, season lightly with salt, cover, and cook until the onions are very tender and translucent, and just slightly browned at the edges, 10-15 minutes. Remove them from the heat, and spread over the pre-baked pastry before adding the custard.
** My notes - Because the crust got too dark for my taste I will skip the entire foil and weights part and just do 15 minutes, watching it closely, without the second step. Have a pie crust protector ring, or formed aluminum foil, handy in case the crust starts getting too dark while the filling cooks. I made the bacon version. In the future I will sprinkle with cayenne rather than nutmeg for this version. Be careful to not overfill the crust. I ended up discarding almost a cup of egg mixture, which I suppose you could bake in a ramekin and serve on toast. You may also find the top getting too dark before the filling fully sets up, you may want to put a loose sheet of foil over it for the last few minutes. I ended up baking it for almost 40 minutes. The recipe says to serve immediately but I think it should set up for just a couple of minutes first. I'm making this again tonight but will use the Labne (kefir cheese spread) in place of the crème fraiche. I think the slightly tangier flavor will give it some nice zip!
I served this with the 50/50 spring mix/spinach salad with a sprinkle of gruyere, an olive oil and pomegranate balsamic (from Big Horn Olive Oil Company) dressing and a Sweet Cheeks Chardonnay.
Let me know how you customize the recipe or how you serve it! I'd love to hear from you!
