I was going to make this for breakfast yesterday, but wound up going to
the movies instead so Sunday morning quiche it was destined to be!
In my goal to balance healthy eating with good flavor, sometimes I get
off on the wrong track, and sometimes (like this morning) the Tastebud Express glides into the
station with a gentle whisper of culinary bliss. Does that sound conceited to say about my own
cooking? Perhaps so, but man… it was
really good!
The concept: A quiche I could
eat on for the rest of the week to avoid cooking in the summer heat. I wanted it to have a whole wheat crust (for
fiber), and enough veggies in it that I could feel good about the fat going
into it. All things in moderation,
right?
The final outcome: A quiche with
a rather firm crust, filled with bacon, mushrooms, spinach, swiss cheese and
the usual delectable custard.
Quick note: This is a LARGE
recipe, to fit my 11” quiche pan. If you’re
using a regular 9” pie plate then you’ll definitely have excess crust and
filling.
Planning: Make the crust while
your bacon is cooking and your oven is preheating to 425, then pre-bake the
crust while you’re cooking the vegetables. While the pre-baked crust is cooling, grate
the cheese and beat the custard together.
The ingredients:
(some measurements approximate, so use what you think sounds good)
Crust:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp garlic salt (yep!)
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
(at this point, mix it all together in a big bowl)
1 tbsp garlic butter (I had some from last night)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tbsp cold water
As you can see, I threw some flavor into the crust. I hate when you have just a little piece of
crust on your plate and you eat it and it just tastes like fatty salty
flour. So, as with any pastry recipe,
mix in the oil and butter with a fork until the flour is crumbly instead of
powdery, then sprinkle over the tablespoons of cold water and mix until you get
a ball. Roll between pieces of wax paper
to the right size for your pan, trim off any excess and bake at 425 for 10
minutes, after pricking with a fork to avoid bubbles. Remove to cool, you do NOT want it browned at all.
Filling:
6 slices lean bacon cooked crisp
1/3 red onion, diced fine
1 cup diced crimini mushrooms
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Pinch of dried thyme
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 dashes cayenne pepper
1 dash nutmeg
Cook the veggies until soft in the bacon fat (why waste flavor?), add
the pepper, cayenne, and dried thyme and stir it in before turning off the
heat. You will be putting it in a
colander to drain excess liquid out so it doesn’t make the quiche watery.
In a big bowl beat 4 eggs, add a cup of heavy cream and a cup of 2%
milk (or whole milk, though it will be
richer.)
Assembly:
To your now pre-baked crust, add the cooked vegetables that you’ve
mixed with your chopped crispy bacon and spread evenly on the bottom of the
crust. Top with about a cup of shredded
swiss cheese, then pour the custard over.
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 for 30 minutes. You’ll wind up with a golden brown top that
is the crust of cheese (nom nom nom) and just let it cool for 10 minutes before
cutting into wedges to serve. But, um,
don’t serve for at least 5 minutes if you don’t want your guests (or yourself)
to have their mouths scorched!
So there you have it, that's what I did for breakfast this morning before mowing the lawns. I did snitch another bite after mowing to see how the flavors were when it was room temperature, and the flavor was fabulous. Nothing overpowering, every ingredient making an appearance on the palate.
