Quiche Me!

 

 I'm basically lazy, so when I start thinking about fixing something to eat, I tend to go for quick, easy, and leftoverable.  Quiche fits the bill.  Today it's going to be a spinach quiche.

 

 I had a pie crust patiently waiting in the fridge.  I had a bag of fresh spinach.  I had ham.  And I had all sorts of cheeses.  I'm only minutes away from quiche.

I'll give you the basic ingredients then the step-by-steps and you can adjust and substitute as you like.  For example, I'm using ham, but you could fry up some bacon and use that.  I'm using Gruyère cheese, but you could substitute with other Swiss cheese or mozzarella or Monterey Jack.  Also, I have spinach on hand, but you could leave that out if you want.  There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to quiche.

Basic quiche ingredients:

1 pie crust 

1 cup cubed Gruyère cheese 

1 cup cubed ham

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 big handfuls spinach

5 eggs, room temperature

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup skim milk

freshly grated nutmeg

kosher salt and freshly grated pepper 

Rosie Note:  You could use whole milk if you happen to have it.  I never do.  But I always have cream and skim on hand, so I use that.  Also, I heat up the cream and milk before adding to the eggs.  You don't want it scalding hot (You don't want to scramble the eggs!), but you want it warm to medium hot.  This makes the quiche cook a bit faster rather than using cold liquid.

Have the oven at 350°.  Cook for about 50-60 minutes, rotating halfway through, covering top if it gets too brown.  You want just a slight jiggle when you shake it.  Then let it sit after you remove from the oven.

First, I sautéed a couple handfuls of chopped onion and cubed ham.

Then I stemmed a big bunch of spinach.

I added the spinach to the onions and ham

and let it cook down a bit.  Set it aside while you prepare the crust.

I like to use deep pie dishes.  And I use the refrigerated pie doughs that come rolled up, two to a box.  I don't like the frozen individual pie crusts.  They're not deep enough and they're always going to crack in the freezer.

Take the dough out and let it come to room temperature, then press it into your pie dish, crimping the edges.  Dot the bottom with cubes of cheese.  I'm using Gruyère.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have five eggs at room temperature.

Evenly spread out the onion/spinach/ham mixture.

I whupped up the eggs to a nice froth and added in a mixture of 1 cup heavy cream and 2/3 cup skim milk.

Then I seasoned the mixture with freshly grated nutmeg and kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (maybe 1/2 tsp each).

Pour in the egg/milk mixture.

Ready for baking.

350° for about 30 minutes, then rotate and cook another 20-25 minutes. 

 Remove from oven and let it rest about 20 minutes before slicing.

It's well worth the wait.

Enjoy!

Quiche Me.

 Didn't want to go out for a meal.
Didn't want to make a big production at home.
What to do for lunch?

I decided on the old stand-by.  Quiche.
It's light.  Well, as light as you want it to be.
It's substantial.  Substantial enough.
It has all sorts of ... elements in it.
It can be what you want.
It's good.
You can eat it hot, warm, room-temp, cold.
You can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack.
It can contain all the major food groups.  OK, except for fruit, maybe, but then it's a fruit pie and that raises it all to a new level entirely.
It's sort of an all-purpose food.

 

Yeah...  We're having quiche today.

Rosie's Fixin's For Quiche

6 eggs, room temperature, beaten
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 loose cups spinach, stemmed and chopped
1 dozen asparagus spears
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 oz. Swiss cheese, diced
2 oz. Monterey Jack cheese
grated Parmesan cheese

Rosie Notes:  Instead of both skim and heavy cream, you could use whole milk.  I never have whole milk on hand, but I always have skim and cream, so I use a combination.

For the pie crust, if you're not making your own, I recommend the refrigerated crusts that are rolled up and come two to a package.  Don't use the frozen individual crusts.  They usually crack in the freezer and aren't as big as the roll-outs.

I used a 9-inch diameter, deep-dish pie dish.  If you're using a shallow dish, cut eggs back to 4, skim back to 1 cup, and cream back to 1/2 cup, cut back a tad on rest of ingredients, and cut baking time back to 60 minutes.

Also, if you want to fry up some bacon and crumble it up and spread it on the bottom of the pie, I would certainly encourage you to do so.  Or diced ham.  Up to you.

Heat oven to 350°.

Place pie crust in dish and crimp edges.

In a medium skillet, melt 1 TB unsalted butter and sauté mushrooms for about 2 minutes.  Add onions and sauté another minute.  Add spinach, stir for a minute or so until spinach wilts, and remove from heat.  This gets the moisture out of the ingredients so you don't get a watery quiche.

Prepare asparagus by snapping bottom part off where it naturally snaps, then halve each spear.

Place Swiss cubes on bottom of dish, then add in mushroom mixture.
Beat eggs and whisk in milk and cream.  Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Pour milk mixture into crust.
Add in grated Monterey Jack cheese, then arrange asparagus spears.  Grate Parmesan cheese over top.

Bake in a 350° oven for about 70 minutes.  After 30 minutes, check and cover edges with foil if browning too quickly.  Bake about 70-75 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing.


For the step-by-steps:

Sauté mushroom slices.

Sauté onion until translucent.

Add spinach.

Let wilt.

Set aside.

Crimp edges of crust and place Swiss cubes in bottom.

Add in mushroom mixture evenly.

Pour in milk, cream, and egg mixture.

Sprinkle on the Monterey Jack, place the spears on, then grate Parm over top.

And bake.

Let sit before slicing.

It's even better when the asparagus come from your own garden.

Enjoy!

Rosie Wants Quiche.

Rosie's Asparagus Quiche

1 pie crust, partially baked

1/2 cup skim milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper, freshly ground

1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg, finely grated

1 cup chopped asparagus

1/2 cup diced ham

1 cup diced Swiss cheese

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400°.

As for the pie crust, if I don't have time to make the dough, I use the refrigerated rolled-up 9" pie doughs.

They come two to a box.  Much superior to the frozen doughs in aluminum pans.  The roll-ups are larger and freeze well, whereas I've been known to throw out a bunch of aluminum pie pans with shattered shards of frozen pie parts.

Partially bake the pie crust.  Place a piece of foil on top of the dough and pour in beans or rice as a weight.  I keep a jar of beans in my cabinet for this very purpose.  Bake, weighted with beans, about 10 minutes.  Remove foil and beans and prick the dough with a fork.  Bake about 10 more minutes, until lightly browned.

Measure the milk and cream into a small saucepan.  Scald and let cool a bit.

Whisk the eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Beat the milk and cream mixture into the eggs, gradually.

Scatter the ham, Swiss cheese, and asparagus in the bottom of the pie.  Pour egg mixture over top.

In my case, I gave myself more cheese and Mr. Hawthorne got more asparagus.  

Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over my half!

Bake at 400° for 45 - 55 minutes or until just set.

Let quiche sit for at least 20 minutes before slicing.  The texture becomes even better as it sits, when it's refrigerated.  I'll be enjoying this for breakfast tomorrow.

Oh, yes.

Here's a tip about those pesky pie crusts.

Carefully stretch the dough from the center out,

rotating the pie.

You want the dough up over the edge

of the pie rim.

When you pre-bake the pie dough
and if you haven't stretched the dough far enough over the edge.
the dough will shrink down the sides.

 When you pour in the liquid mixture
it will run down the back of the dough and get underneath.

Soggy Pie!

 Bad Pie!

Don't do this.

Use aluminum foil and beans to weigh the dough down.

Just-picked asparagus from my garden.

What?

Excuse me?

Did I say just-picked asparagus?

Yes, I did.

And silly you.

You thought asparagus was just a spring crop.

Well, not in Rosie's Garden.

I have two asparagus plants in the garden.

I don't have an asparagus bed, although I used to.

I have only the two plants.

I did not plant them.
Perhaps a little bird did.

But I welcome them.

One is about 20 years old and I discovered a little trick

that I do with this one plant.

In September, I cut the spidery, feathery foliage

down to the ground.

Within a few weeks,

the asparagus plant, thinking it's Spring,

rewards me with glorious stalks.

I pick and choose which stalks I harvest

and let the others go into full foliage.

That's another advantage of the climate I enjoy.

There's still time for this asparagus plant

to branch out in foliage and in roots
and strengthen itself for the spring harvest.

I have fresh asparagus, diced ham, and diced Swiss cheese.

Maybe 8 spears.

And a handful each of diced ham and Swiss.

Grated cheddar cheese.

Three large eggs, with 1/2 tsp sea salt, 

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper,

and a good dusting of freshly grated nutmeg.

   I whupped the eggs first,

then gradually beat the cream/milk mixture into the eggs.

Here's my partially baked crust.

See the importance of stretching the dough to get over the edge?

Upper right side has shrunk down.

Place diced ham, Swiss cheese, and asparagus spears

in bottom of pre-baked pie.

I put more Swiss cheese on my half,

since Mr. Hawthorne is stillonadietblahblahblah.

Pour the custard mixture in.

Grated cheddar on my half

and decorate with asparagus tips.

After 45 minutes.

This is beautiful.

Let it rest.

Please do not assault this with a fork and knife.

Let it sit.

Let it cool.

At least twenty minutes, before cutting.

I scissored some fresh basil, scallions, and tarragon

from my plants on the deck

over my little slice.

It pays to grow herbs near your kitchen

where they're easily accessible.

That way you're more apt to use them.

I'm just admiring the quiche.

 Quiche for breakfast.

Texture is perfect now.