Peggy’s Quiche

Submitted by: PEGGY O’CONNOR

Their Food Story:

Growing up as one of eight children, I learned to make stews, roasts, casseroles, and an assortment of other dishes that could economically feed a tableful of discriminating, often simple, tastes. My mother was a patient and kind teacher, and I have many fond memories of sharing counter space with her, learning how to level flour, gently tear lettuce, and countless everyday kitchen skills that have served me for a generation.

 While we had never heard of quiche in those days, Mom made a great pie. She used the classic crust recipe found on the inside of the Crisco label, and I can picture it taped to the inside of a cabinet door, just above the art deco stainless canisters. But even with the same recipe and loving effort, so many women claim to have been defeated by this basic pastry. I had an employee at my store in Kentucky who was a fabulous cook and kept me fed for months while I was living temporarily in a sparsely equipped apartment. One day while she was at work, her house was robbed. Among the detritus and insults of the invasion, she discovered that the thief had taken the time to sit and eat a piece of her pie, but had left the crust.

Everyone ate my mother’s crust, down to the last crumb. During a phone call from across the country decades ago, I spontaneously asked her for the recipe, and scribbled it on a blank envelope lying nearby. When she died suddenly a few years later, I knew I would never get around to transcribing that simple, stained note that told so much about this tradition. My astute husband stole it from my recipe book one Christmas and gave it back to me in a simple frame, to better preserve something that clearly meant so much.

Aside from the importance of accurate measurements when baking, Mom’s advice for a moist, flaky crust was simple: “Leave it alone.” The secret to a crust that isn’t tough or chewy is to work with it as little as possible. For me, rolling my crust between two sheets of floured wax paper, which can them be easily flipped onto the pan without excess handling, does the trick every time.

 The quiche filling recipe is originally from Epicurious’s Madame Quiche’s Quiche au Fromage, modified a bit here and there from experience.

PEGGY’S QUICHE

Ingredients:

• Single Crust Deep Dish Pie                                            Single Crust 9” Pie

  2 ¼ cups unbleached flour                                             1 ½ cups unbleached flour

  ¾ cup Crisco shortening                                                ½ cup Crisco shortening

  4 ½ - 5 T very cold water                                                3 T very cold water

  salt and flour for dusting                                               salt and flour for dusting

  3 12-15” pieces wax paper                                             3 12-15” pieces wax paper

  ceramic pie weights or dried beans                                ceramic pie weights or dried beans

  aluminum foil                                                               aluminum foil     

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425°F.

2.  Cut pieces of wax paper and set aside.

3.  Mix flour and shortening, first cutting the shortening in briefly with a knife, then with a pastry blender until relatively evenly cut. Do not overmix!

4.  Add cold water, half at a time, sprinkling around mixture, then loosely stirring it in with your knife.

5.  Use your hands to transfer the mixture to a piece of wax paper, gently scrunching it between your hands to press the ingredients together. Once it’s all on the wax paper, gently form it into a ball through the wax paper. Place the wrapped ball in the freezer for a least 15 minutes.

6.  Lightly flour two pieces of wax paper and sprinkle with salt. Move the dough ball to the floured/salted paper. Press the dough ball between the two pieces of wax paper, then roll it out to the appropriate size for your pan.

7.  Remove the top piece of wax paper and discard; invert your pie pan on top, and turn the whole thing over. Peel off the second piece of wax paper, discard, and press the dough into the pie pan, crimping the edges. (See separate instructions in Desert section for continuing this recipe to make a fruit pie.) Poke the bottom with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife.

8.  Line the pastry with foil (including loosely over the edges) and enough pie weights or beans to cover the bottom. Bake in bottom third of the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the foil and pie weights and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven while you prepare the filling.

TIP: If you’re making quiche Loraine, while the crust is in the freezer or the oven, cook about 4 ounces of good quality slab bacon and drain on paper towels.

FOR THE QUICHE FILLING: I usually fill with bacon, onion, and mushrooms (Options 1 and 2 below), but sometimes add or substitute chopped broccoli for the bacon. When making a deep-dish broccoli quiche, I use the 9” quantities of liquids to make room for the extra bulk of the broccoli.

 Ingredients for 9” pie shell: (Quantities in parentheses are for deep dish quiche, except broccoli) 

6 large eggs (8)

2/3 cup heavy cream or crème fraiche (1 cup)

1 cup milk, preferably whole (1 1/3 cups)

8-10 ounces gruyere, emmenthal, or other Swiss-type cheese

1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

About 1 tsp. dried leaf tarragon (added to vegetables while cooking)

Salt and pepper to taste

Option 1: Cook 4 ounces of good quality slab bacon and drain on paper towels. Crumble when cool. 

Option 2: Sauté 1 small onion and 8 oz. mushrooms, finely chopped, and tarragon in a small amount of butter or bacon fat, until the onion is very soft. (As much as I love both, too much fat or butter will spoil the consistency of the custard.) If adding broccoli, finely chop one head and sauté with other vegetables until soft. Spoon into the bottom of the pie crust before adding the custard.

Instructions: 

1.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and milk until thoroughly blended. Season with salt and pepper, then add the cheese and crumbled bacon (if using) until blended.

2. Turn mixture into the pre-baked pastry (with sautéed onions, mushrooms, and broccoli, if using, already on the bottom) and spread out evenly; sprinkle with nutmeg.

3.  Bake in the center of the oven until the filling is golden and puffed, and is completely baked through, about 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of the pie and your oven. If yours is like mine, it will take even longer than this, which is why I cover the edges during the pre-baking stage.

4.  Serve immediately.

We like this with a green salad topped with oil and balsamic vinegar. The last of the crust is even yummier when used to mop up the extra oil and vinegar.