Quiche à la bit and bobs

Posted by Dana McMahan on February 10, 2008

Some men are meat and potatoes men. My dad is one of them. I’m a cheese and bread girl myself. Should I have to eat only two foods the rest of my life, I could do it with bread and cheese. (I know this, because that’s all I ate for several days as a non-meat-eater in Eastern Europe a few years ago. But that’s another story.) The minute my feet hit the ground in France, I’m looking for a baguette with camembert.

My husband Brian though, now he’s a quiche man. His first stop in France — without fail — is a boulangerie where I help him identify a veggie quiche. (Point and say with eyebrows raised, “pas de viande?”) The passport stamp at Charles de Gaulle doesn’t signify he has arrived in France. His first bite of an oozing cheesy quiche does.

After a week of feasting on quiche last summer in Provence, Brian came home mad to make his own quiche. We turned first to our Joy of Cooking and Brian rolled up his sleeves and taught himself to make a fantastic crust (I happily ate his discards).

He’s developed a kind of tradition on weekends of taking assorted leftovers from the week and throwing them into the Joy of Cooking’s Cheese Quiche. Bits and bobs left from dinner through the week find their way into a cheesy, crust-wrapped home. It may be tomatoes, goat cheese, asparagus, dill or other herbs — anything really, that we have a little left of lying around.

This weekend he used the decadently heavy eggs fresh from Misty Meadows Farm and threw in baby spinach. Next week, who knows?

Here’s the starting point: Joy of Cooking’s Cheese Quiche

Preheat oven to 375. Bake ½ Basic Pie Crust (recipe below) in a 9-inch quiche, tart or pie pan

While still warm, brush baked crust with beaten egg yolk.

Place the pan on a baking sheet. Sprinkle onto the crust:
1 ½ cup shredded Cheddar or Swiss (My quiche man prefers Cheddar)

Whisk together in a medium bowl until no egg white streaks remain:

3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup small onion, grated
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper
We added baby spinach (about two cups) and Herbs de Provence this week

Pour the mixture evenly over the cheese in the crust. Bake until filling is puffed around the sides, about 30-40 minutes. Wait ten minutes before slicing.

Joy of Cooking’s Basic Pie Or Pastry Dough

For One 9- or 10-inch double crust (half for a single crust)

Sift together:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons salt

Add:
¾ cup chilled (lard or) vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
Cut half of the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or work it in lightly with the tips of your fingers until it has the consistency of cornmeal. Cut the remaining half into the dough until it is pea-sized.
Sprinkle the dough with:
6 tablespoons ice water
Blend the water gently into the dough until it just holds together; you may lift the ingredients with a fork, allowing the moisture to spread.
If necessary to hold the ingredients together, add:
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon ice water
Divide the dough in half, shape each into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.

Ça vaut le voyage,
Dana

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