Quiche Sera Sera

I'm going to try to post a recipe each week at the very least. It's a little more time consuming because I try to make each one and photograph it - and let me assure you, I don't really cook or bake that much at home. It's just so great at the restaurant with all the space and the equipment - and our glorious dish washers. I feel deprived in my own little kitchen.

But, something I do make quite often for my family is quiche. When I worked at The Daily Review Cafe and Aries Restaurant we made quiche everyday. My recipe is an adaptation of both of their recipes and it gets pretty rave reviews - even my children wolf it down. Andy usually eats a slice or two when he gets home late from a night's work at The Compound (he's the Chef de Cuisine . . . yes, it's an "office" romance.) So it's a great one to make and have in the fridge for leftovers or unexpected guests.

First make the pastry, which is a fairly standard pie dough recipe:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 # (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and diced

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water - depending on the level of humidity where you are

Place the flour and salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles a course meal. Slowly add the ice water and pulse a few times. Just to make sure not to over mix it, I dump it all into a large bowl and gently press it together to form a ball. Then divide the dough into four pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap - flattening it and forming into a disk with your hands which makes it easier to roll out into a circle later on. Take caution here because you really don't want to handle your pie dough too much because an overworked dough builds too much gluten - which makes it not only difficult to roll out, but tough in your mouth.

Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. If it's gotten too hard let it sit out for while to soften, but not so long that it gets oily. You will have leftover dough, which is great because you can freeze it and use it for your next quiche or pie. Just thaw it in the fridge over night. Take your chilled and rested dough disk and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about an 1/8th inch thickness. Brush off the excess flour - can be bitter once baked - and fold in half and place in your oiled pie plate. I use a 9 inch glass pie plate, which is nice because you can see when the crust is baked on the bottom. Crimp the edges if you're in the mood or just level it off with a pairing knife with the pie plate edge and then press it up just above the rim. Place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Now we're going to par-bake the pie crust, in other words partially bake it without the filling so the bottom is nice and crisp. Line your chilled pie crust with oiled aluminum foil and weigh it down with pie weights. I use inexpensive raw beans as pie weights - any variety does the trick, but my favorites are garbanzos or pintos. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Take your crust out of the oven, remove the pie weights and foil and place back in the oven for about 6 more minutes until you can see that the bottom is dried out and very light tan.

While the crust is baking and cooling, it's time to make the egg filling and the various and sundry items you'd like to add to your quiche. Custard Filling:

4 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream - same thin
a few grates of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together and set aside. Now you can decide what you want to flavor your quiche. I used spinach and assorted cheeses because that's what I had in the fridge, but the possibilities are endless. Here are some suggestions which can be combined in any which way:

caramelized onion or shallot

asparagus

zucchini

yellow squash

sweet potato

bacon

diced ham

chorizo

fresh herbs

roasted red pepper

goat cheese or any cheese really

crab meat

spinach

corn

jalapeno

tomato (you need to oven dry the tomato at a low temp otherwise it will add to much liquid to the quiche and it will never set)

leeks

Saute your veggies and cook your selected meats, making sure to season them appropriately. Mix together with the cheese and custard filling. Pour all of it into your par-baked pie crust and bake at 325 for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. I like to set my timer for 30 minutes then rotate the quiche because my oven tends to bake somewhat unevenly. Another 10 - 15 minutes then I start checking it every 5 minutes of so.

It should be light brown on top and a little puffed around edges and set in the middle. If there's a slight jiggle in the middle that's okay, but only very slight. Mainly, however, try not to over bake it because the eggs can curdle. Let it cool a bit before you try to cut it. My preferred method of serving is to chill it completely before I cut the slices and then warm them in the oven. It's nice because you get a nice, clean cut - but really who has time for all that?

Enjoy your quiche - whatever will be will be.