Multiples in the Kitchen: Quiche

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I’ve been making this quiche for over 10 years now. It’s something that seems intimidating but for some reason I was confident enough, even back then, to try it. And I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. Since then, I’ve modified it slightly and it’s become a go-to dish for potlucks.

I was thrilled when the girls saw me making it one day and asked to help. It does have a lot of steps…I make the pastry crust from scratch and you need to take it out of the oven and put it back in a few times. But, you can make the crust in advance.

Ready?

The girls had fun using new equipment

And learning new skills.

Though the crust turned out a bit lumpy (let’s call it “rustic”, shall we?) it turned out pretty well for 4.5 year olds!

First egg cracking! Good job!

Who doesn’t love stirring

And snipping

And sprinkling

And pouring?

We served our quiche with a side salad.

Quiche Recipe

Modified from The Basic Gourmet

Crust:

• 2 Cups all purpose flour (plus more for rolling dough)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 to 1-1/4 sticks of very cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• About 1/3 cup water (you may not need all of it)
• 1 tsp Dijon style mustard, or egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Add flour and salt into food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add butter and pulse until the butter mixes with the flour, resembling coarse meal. Slowly drizzle the water into the food processor while it is running, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides and form a ball. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into an 11-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan by gently wrapping the circle around the rolling pin, and then unroll onto the pan. Press the dough down onto the pan, removing the excess around the edges. Prick the bottom with a fork, and cover with a piece of parchment or foil. Add pie weights or dried beans or rice and place in the oven for 13 minutes. Then remove the parchment/foil/pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove again and seal the crust with either Dijon mustard or egg wash with a brush. Then bake for 3 more minutes. Allow to cool on a rack.

Filling:

• 3 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups whipping cream or milk
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1-2 cups cooked meat and vegetables
• Black pepper to taste
• Baked pastry crust

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F. Whisk together eggs, cream/milk and black pepper. Scatter meat/vegetables on the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle cheese on top. Pour in egg/milk mixture, being careful not to spill over the sides of the crust. Bake until puffed and browned and not jiggly in the middle, for 30-35 minutes. Allow to set 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

• Again, this is a rather time-consuming dish with lots of steps. By the time we finished, the girls were too grumpy to take pictures with the finished product. So instead of making this all in one (weekday) night, you could break up the crust and filling into two nights. Or, this would make a great rainy-day weekend thing to do with your kiddos.
• If you don’t have a food processor, you can make the dough by hand. I remember making the crust in my dorm room! Just use your fingers and maybe a fork.
• The original recipe calls for whipping cream, but you can lighten the dish by using milk (anything but nonfat).
• Also, the original recipe calls for 1 1/4 sticks of butter, which I’ve heard is actually less butter than a lot of crust recipes. But you can even omit the 1/4 stick if you wish, though it will make the dough a little bit dryer if you don’t modify the amount of flour.
• Doubling the crust recipe can get you 2 regular sized crusts plus a smaller one.

Hogs and Quiches to you!

-Steph-