Quiche Lorraine

 

The other day, I had a hankerin’ for a quiche. Not just any ol’ quiche, but a Quiche Lorraine. I think Quiche Lorraine translates to “a delicious pie with enough fat to immediately clog your arteries.”  But that’s what makes it tasty and scrumptious and oh-so-good. So I found this recipe here:
  

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quiche_lorraine/
 

First, I’ve never made Pâte Brisée, and I realized that was a gap in my cooking education. Well, have I been missing out! Wow, this crust or pastry is fabulous. You can make the Quiche with a frozen pie crust, which will save you a bunch of time, but in case you want to go for it: 

All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée) Recipe

This recipe makes 1 pâte brisée crust, enough for one tart. If you are making a pie with a bottom and top crust, double this recipe and form two discs of dough instead of one. Note: start this recipe the night before you want to serve it so you can freeze the butter. And so you can freeze the crust for several hours before baking.

  

 

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1 1/2 teaspoons if for a sweet recipe)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (frozen)
3 to 4 Tbsp ice water, very cold
  

Place the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add half of the frozen butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 times.

Add the other half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 more times. You should have a mixture that resembles a coarse meal, with many butter pieces the size of peas.
 

Add a couple of tablespoons of ice cold water to the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times. Add more ice water, slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it hold together, it’s ready. If not, add a little more water and pulse again. 
 

Remove the crumbly mixture from the food processor and place on a very clean, smooth surface.

Work the dough only enough to just bring it together and shape it into a disc. 

At this point, you can wrap the disc in plastic wrap and freeze it for later use. Or refrigerate it for an hour if you are going to put the crust in a pie plate. Or do like I did because I was running short on time and press the mixture into the pie plate. I used a deep dish pie plate because the filling on the quiche is generous.

 If you are going to roll out the dough, remove the disk from the refrigerator and place on a clean, smooth, lightly floured surface. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to take just enough of a chill off of it so that it becomes easier to roll out. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 12 inch circle, to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Place on to a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the fold with the center of the pan. Gently unfold and press down to line the pie dish with the dough.
 

Now you are ready to make the Quiche. To quote Dr. Seuss - “Oh the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!”
 

The beauty of a quiche is that you can put so many interesting things into it – asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, red or green pepper, onion, smoked salmon, spinach, bacon, sausage, zucchini, olives, sundried tomatoes, ham, chicken, chorizo, pepperoni, or garlic. You can make Italian themed quiche with basil, sundried tomatoes, and pepperoni. You can make Mexican themed quiche with chorizo, red pepper, a jalapeño, and onion. You can make vegetarian quiche, or meat lovers quiche. And you can play with the cheese – feta, gruyere, swiss cheese, cheddar, parmesan, ricotta. And play with the herbs – thyme, oregano, basil, parsley, chives.  

I made a basic Quiche Lorraine – you already have most of the ingredients. 

Quiche Lorraine

1 recipe pie dough or a prepared frozen pie crust
1/2 pound of bacon (you can use more or less to your taste)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste (we used about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup grated gruyere or other cheese (cheddar works too)
1 heaping tablespoon chopped chives 

If you are making your own pie crust, roll out the pie dough into a 12-inch round. Place it in a 10-inch wide, 1 1/2-inch high tart pan, pressing the dough into the corners. Use a rolling pin to roll over the surface of the tart pan to cleanly cut off the excess dough from the edges. Freeze for at least half an hour before blind-baking.

 

Pre-bake the frozen crust (also called "blind" baking). Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the frozen crust with heavy duty aluminum foil or with parchment paper. Allow for a couple inches to extend beyond the sides of the tart or pie pan. Fill two-thirds with dry beans or other pie weights. If you are using a pan with a removable bottom, place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven to catch any spillage. Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove from oven, remove the pie weights (the easiest way to do this is to lift up the foil by the edges) and the foil. Using the tines of a fork, poke little holes all around the base of the crust. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, until lightly browned all over. Remove from oven and set aside.

  

Cook the bacon. Heat a large frying pan on medium heat. Arrange strips of bacon in a single layer on the bottom of the pan (you may need to work in batches or do two pans at once). Slowly cook the bacon, turning the strips over occasionally until they are nicely browned and much of the fat has rendered out. Lay the cooked strips of bacon on a paper towel to absorb the excess fat. Chop the cooked bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch pieces. Or I like to chop the bacon first, then cook it.

 

I had some green onions, red pepper and spinach on hand. I couldn't help myself - I sauteed, then added them too.

 Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the nutmeg, salt, black pepper and chives and whisk a little more. Add the milk and cream and whisk vigorously to incorporate and introduce a little air into the mix – this keeps the texture of the quiche light and fluffy.

 

  

Arrange the bacon and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust.

 

  

Whisk the egg-milk mixture hard again for a few seconds, then pour it gently into the pie crust. You want the bacon and cheese to be suspended in the mix, so you might need to gently stir it around just a little. You also want the chives, which will float, to be evenly arranged on top, so move them around with a spoon until you like where they are.

 

Put the quiche into the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. (If using pan with removable bottom, be sure to place a rimmed baking sheet underneath.) Check for doneness after 30 minutes by gently jiggling the quiche. It should still have just a little wiggle. (It will finish setting while it cools.) Cool on a wire rack.

  

Eat at room temperature, or cold (a quiche will keep for several days in the fridge), or reheated gently in a 200-degree oven.

  

This was so delectable! To quote Dr. Seuss again, “Try them, try them, and you may! Try them and you may, I say.”