Bloggers: Theresa Santoro
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Theresa Santoro
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Spring has Sprung — Lighten up the menu with Quiche!
The Incredible Edible Quiche! Yummolicious and Oh, So Easy.
The best thing about quiche is the ease when you take just one little shortcut! The crust! Did I say the crust? Indeed, and here is why. Homemade pie crust is delicious, no doubt, but it does take some time in both preparation and clean up. So, once in awhile who will know if you and Mrs. Smith or Marie Callendar share a little secret? Both of these brands are time tested, using only the best ingredients, and they are a quick fix to a busy schedule. Plus, because they are rolled out by machine, each crust is exactly the same in size. And this is important when baking, and you want them the same size. This is especially true if you are making several! Trust me! These are not your mama’s frozen pie crusts from yesteryear!
For two quiches, I chose to make one with ham, and the second strictly vegetarian. However, they share the same base of flavor and custard recipe.
Here is what you need to make two delicious quiches
- 1 dozen large eggs (2 whole, 10 yolks)
- 1.5 cups of whole milk
- 1.5 cups of heavy cream
- dash of salt
- ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
- pepper
- 2 cups of grated cheese. I use gruyere, but swiss works.
- Onion (small chopped, or small container already chopped)
- Mushrooms(one large package pre-sliced)
- For vegetables, I chose asparagus. But I also use zucchini, peppers, or any hearty (not too watery) vegetable.
- Chopped ham ( found near the bacon, already chopped or julienned)
Let's get this quiche party started!
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
Remove your pie crusts to thaw about 15 minutes
We are going to blind bake the crusts before you fill them. This type of blind baking I am doing in this recipe is quick and easy, and works well with store bought shells, because they are exact in size and depth. Once defrosted poke entire crust with your fork. This will keep the crust from rising during the blind baking phase.
Place both pie shells in the oven and set timer for 5 minutes. At five minutes, you may see the some inflation of the shell. Simply take your fork, and deflate the pie shell. Bake 7 more minutes, until a very soft golden brown.
Meanwhile, while the shells are cooling, we will pre-cook our ingredients, starting with the base of onions and mushrooms. Saute with 2 tablespoons of butter for a golden carmelization of flavor. Set aside to cool.
Next, lightly saute the ham.
With the asparagus still incased in the rubberband, snap a bottom, where it breaks naturally.
and then cut the rest at that point. Rinse well, but keep do not dry,(do not leave dripping wet, either) as we will put it in a hot pan to cook, and the moist stalks will not require additional water. Place stalks in hot pan on stove and roll gently to “dry” in pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and cover on medium heat. Cover, because oil and water do not mix, and you might get a pop or two. Cook for about 5minutes shaking pan occassionally to roll the asparagus. It will become a lovely bright green. At this point, you can leave whole, or chop at an angle to get every delicious bite of vegetable!
Grate your cheese. I love my cuisinart for the fastest way, but the idea is to have a cup of grated cheese for each pie.
While everything is cooling, we will move on to the custard base for the quiche. I use 2 large eggs, and 10 yolks. Fret not, the yolks are actually super healthy for you! You can certainly reserve your whites for another use, especially if you are making a feast, and meringue is somewhere in the future!
COOKS NOTE:You can brush some egg white on your pie edges for a lovely finish, just before you bake.
I prefer to use the blender, but a bowl and whisk work just as well. Combine your the 2 eggs and 10 yolks with 1.5 cups each of whole milk, and heavy cream. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, a dash of salt, and pepper(to taste. I use 6 turns of the mill). Blend on low, until combined, and divide evenly for your pies. You should get about 2 cups each.
ASSEMBLE THE PIES!! TURN YOUR OVEN DOWN TO 325
Take the two shells and evenly distibute at the bottom your base of onion and mushrooms.
COOKS NOTE: Do not overfill the pie with ingredients going above the edge line, or the custard will not cover your ingredients!
From that point, if you are making one vegetarian, and one meat, then place the cheese next for easy identification as the vegetable or meat will be on top. Otherwise, I usually put the cheese on top of all of the ingredients, just before the custard. Choice is yours.
Last step, pour your custard gently over the top. I pour slow, so it seeps down to the bottom. You can use a fork to allow this to happen, but don’t move your ingredients to much.
Once the custard is in, use a slotted spatula to gently put pressure on mixture, and to make sure custard has covered everything.
Place in oven, and set timer for 45 minutes to start. Check at 45 minutes, and it will just look golden, and another 5-10 minutes will take your pie to yummy tan. Oven temperatures vary, so I always check at 45 minutes to see if it is already set, at which point you can remove from oven. Variables include size of eggs used, oven temps, and other ingredients, so timing is not exact. You want a lovely tan, as shown. Allow pies to rest at least 45 minutes so custard is really set, and lovely to cut!
Quiche is a delicous meal for anytime, and I find my kids really enjoy it at room temp for an afternoon snack. It is perfect during testing season, as you cannot beat a super dose of protein! And the best part of course, is you can make several ahead of time!
Happy Parenting!
Read more of Theresa's Blogs
Spring has Sprung — Lighten up the menu with Quiche!
Individual Impossible Cheeseburger Pies with a KICK!
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce that Your Kids Will LOVE!
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