Sometimes, having chickens provides you with a wonderful dilemma of too many eggs. There are lots of things you can make with eggs (as shown with this post http://kristinesoares.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-whole-egg.html). I decided to make a quiche.
Now, growing up, quiche wasn't exactly my favorite meal. Just like my son, I have some textural issues. If I was given a runny or mushy egg, it was most likely not going to end well. Fortunately, I have outgrown some of those issues. I decided, with all these eggs, why not give it a try? I've already discovered that a fresh farm egg is ten times better than a store bought one. And if I make the crust from scratch, could that make me change my mind about quiche? So, I tinkered around with a recipe and to my surprise, it was one of the best meals I've made to date.
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/4 ice water
1/4 olive oil
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp of salt
Filling:
8 eggs
1/2 cup of cream (or milk)
heaping 1/2 cup of light sour cream
1 onion minced
6 strips bacon, chopped (optional)
3 cups of baby spinach chopped
5-6 ounces of cheese grated/shredded. I chose Gruyere and Provolone
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
First, I start by making my crust. This was one of the easiest, strangest crusts I've ever made. I didn't know how it would turn out, but was a cinch to put together.
Add the salt to the flour
Mix the oil and ice water together
Combine the liquid to the flour and mix until a dough forms. Knead lightly. Then roll out and form into a pie plate. Mine wasn't the exact circle I wanted, but I always shrug it off as perfectly imperfect.
Then I blind bake the crust, which I thoroughly recommend. This prevent the crust from getting a soggy bottom. Because, that's just sad! I weigh the crust down with dried chickpeas in foil. You can also use dried beans. Spread them out in the pan so it's evenly weighted down. I bake at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, just until golden.
While that's baking, I work on the filling. Whisk together 8 eggs.
In a cast iron pan, I crisp up the onion and bacon. Once browned, I put them on a paper towel to drain off some of the grease.
I add the sour cream, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the eggs.
Then I add the cheeses. I went "rogue" and chose two great melting cheeses, Gruyere and Provolone. I'm not a big fan of Swiss cheese, which is what classic quiches call for. Feel free to add what you love. That's the beauty of quiche, it's really all to your liking.
Chop up the baby spinach into bite size pieces. Add that into your egg mixture and stir really well until everything is incorporated.
After your pie crust has finished blind baking and cooled slightly, pour the egg mixture into the crust. Turn down your oven to 325 and bake for about 45 minutes or so. To protect your crust, you can cover the sides with foil or by using a pie shield. Then take them off for the last 5-10 mins of cooking. Insert a knife in the center, if it comes out clean, the quiche is done. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Don't want to burn your tongue on hot cheese!
I love how the layers set up. I'm not sure if that usually happens, but I thought it was pretty. This was a really yummy dish. It's great for an easy dinner or brunch . Marc even ate a piece straight out the fridge for breakfast, it was that good. Be inventive, use what you have left in your fridge! Have a bunch of asparagus? Steam it and throw it in. Leftover roasted potatoes I think would be delicious in here too! Change up the cheese, use different meats or go all vegetarian. The choice is up to you!
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