yummmyyy. Since I was a little girl I remember my mother or my grandmother sometimes making quiche and within minutes the entire pie was devoured. I have always held a huge place in my heart for cheese, specifically aged nutty and earthy cheeses, and this warm homey and comforting dish always makes me feel like a happy chubby little kid again. When great cheese is combined with other great corresponding ingredients, it creates a melody in my tummy that has me singing :3
This is a very flexible recipe, as you can change out the ingredients with basically whatever you want, so long as it keeps the theme to the cheese. I just got some really nice green onions, garlic heads, dry rub baccon and cherry tomatoes from whole foods, So I went with that.
Filling:
4 strips of baccon, cooked, dried and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup of halved cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
1/3 cup grated fresh Gruyere
1/3 cup grated Grana Padano
1/3 cup grated white aged cheddar
3 eggs, whisked
1/2 tablespoon salt
pepper to taste
pinch of nutmeg
1 and 1/3 cup of milk or heavy cream
Flaky Crust:
Crusts are very hard to remain true to there name and not be dense soggy disks. Though the instructions are long, this Crust recipe will be a staple for your kitchen and you will greatly thank me, and the joy of cooking 79' edition, for introducing it. This recipe can't be cut in half, though it is enough dough for two pies. If wrapped in plastic wrap it will keep for 3-5 days, refrigerated.
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/3 cup ice cold water
1 tablespoon butter for later
Start by making your crust, as it will have to chill for 30 min at least before baking. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, powdered sugar and salt. Take your vegetable shortening and carefully CUT it into the flour. This is very important so that you don't end up with a big greasy lump of dough.
If you have a pastry blender- use it, if not, use two butter-knifes and cut the dough in opposite directions until the shortening has been covered by the flour and made a fine grainy sand appearance with pea size lumps. The pea sized lumps of shortening will melt when the dough is baking, leaving pockets of steam to crisp and flake the dough from within.
Drizzle the water over the dough and cut in into the dough again with the knife technique. Do this until the dough easily sticks together, but is not so moist as it sticks to your hands. Divide in half and pat the dough into flat disks, cover in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 min or until you need to use it again.
Now, start working on the fillings for your quiche. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. If you haven't cooked your baccon yet, do it. Just stick those bad boys on an oven tray and bake for about 15 min at 400 degrees. This is my sneaky way of speeding up the ovens preheating time. If you haven't prepped your cheeses or other ingredients, now is the perfect time while that dough takes a break in the cooler. I like to sprinkle a tablespoon of flour on my grated cheeses before baking them so that they don't clump together (plus its a great "binding" agent).
By now the dough should be cool and you should have everything you need ready to just pop in the pan. Roll out your dough. If your not an expert baker, flour your workspace generously as well as your hands and rolling pin. You want your dough nice and thin and in a round circle shape. Lean when rolling, don't press. You want your dough fluffy and flakey, not hard and dense.
When the dough is about 1/8 of an inch thick, transfer to a pie pan or 9 by 9" cake pan and press in all sides. If there is extra hanging off the side, cut it off. You can re-roll out the extra and braid it to make a fancy crust, or just toss it like I did. Use that last tablespoon of butter as a sealant on the crust now by brushing it on. This will keep the eggs from soaking in while it bakes.
Lay your baccon evenly in your pie pan and in a circular design, lay out your tomato halves and green onions. this assures a bite of everything in each piece.
Finally, spread half your cheeses in and pour in your custard egg mixture. Us remaining cheese to top, and bake at 375 degrees for 20 - 30 min, or when cheese is bubbly and golden on top and custard is set. Let the quiche rest for at least 10 min so its internal temperature can rise, fluffing the egg.
* A fresh gruyer is usually very easy to find at most food markets like fred meyer, safeway, ect. A Grana Padano is just an ittalian an all-purpose grating and cooking cheese with rich, sharp flavor, something you may need to ask for and is usually only available at stores with a specific gourmet cheese section. The white aged cheddar is also a very common cheese now; Tillamook has a great vintage white that's fairly cheap per pound, about 4$ or so, but it only comes in 2 pound loafs.
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