Quiche Lorraine

Quiche is one of those staple dishes of which everyone should have a version. A great dish regardless of season, filling, and the best kind of savory deliciousness. Serve it for lunch prepared with a seasonal salad or dinner with a green salad and maybe some roasted potatoes and enjoy the leftovers for breakfast the next day with a bowl of fruit. Quiche is also an ideal meal to take a family who has just welcomed a baby or could just use a home-cooked meal delivered to them regardless of the reason.

Quiche Lorraine is the classic quiche. I prefer Julia Child’s recipe simply because she made it so adaptable (and her crust recipe is the first with which I ever truly succeeded). According to Julia, you can edit the number of eggs to your liking, just edit the cream (or in my case half-and-half) to match the 1/2 increment to the number of eggs. For example, if you are using 3 eggs, you should crack them into a glass measuring cup and then fill the cup to the 1 and 1/2 cup line before blending the eggs and cream together. For 4 eggs, fill to the 2 cup line; 5, the 2 and 1/2 cup line, and so on.

Part of what makes this quiche special is it is so simple. Eggs, (turkey) bacon, cheese, and maybe a few onions, all mixed together and poured into a prepared crust. A delectable, versatile meal–enjoy!

Quiche Lorraine
Adapted from Julia Child

Crust:
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 t salt
1 stick COLD (but not frozen) butter
COLD water

Filling:
5 slices of turkey bacon
4 eggs
Half-and-half
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 c shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese (I like the Trader Joe’s pre-shredded mix of both)
Optional: 1/4 c thinly sliced onions

To make the crust: Measure the flours and salt into a medium sized bowl. After the flours are well mixed, remove butter from refrigerator and cut into pea size pieces. Add butter to flour mixture and, using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the butter and flour are well mixed.

Add 1/4 cup of COLD water (I use water from the refrigerator) to your butter and flour mixture. Use your hands to kneed the dough together, adding water in small increments as needed to make the entire mixture into a ball of dough. Keep dough in bowl and place in refrigerator.

To make filling: Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp. Set on a paper towel to drain and cool. Roughly chop bacon into bite-size pieces.

While bacon is cooking, crack all 4 eggs into a two cup measuring cup. Fill the cup to the two cup line with your half-and-half. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg and whisk until you have a yellow, custard-y mixture. Set aside.

If you are using onions, put them in the skillet you used to cook the bacon and sauté until translucent.

Retrieve your dough from the refrigerator and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to fit your pie pan. Fold over an excess dough toward the middle of the pan and use a fork to press down the sides.

Sprinkle the bacon, cheese and, if applicable, onions in the bottom of your pie crust. Then, pour your custard mixture over the top.

Bake 375° for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.