Quiche Lorraine

My friend Vivi invited me to tag along for brunch with her and some girls at Ted's Bulletin near Eastern Market. It was a gorgeous day out and despite having eaten a big breakfast already, I figured that I should join them and not be a bum (I've been catching up on Game of Thrones, and you know how that can be a downward spiral).

I just ordered a cup of soup since I wasn't that hungry. My other friend had also eaten a big breakfast, and she ordered the quiche but split it with those sitting around her. It was filled with diced onions and apple (I think?) and was so light and fluffy with the most delightful crust. I exercised restraint initially but when the bill came and there was still some left over, I polished it off because it'd be a shame to let such deliciousness go to waste.

And ever since then, I've been obsessed with quiches. That quiche was unlike any that I've ever tasted. I did some googling for quiche recipes that would achieve that heavenly texture, and stumbled upon this one linked on Chowhound so it was off to the kitchen for me. I made the crust from scratch as per the instructions, but unfortunately I don't have a rolling pin. I made do with a cylindrical coffee mug instead, but I couldn't roll the crust thin enough so my resulting quiche came out super flat unfortunately :( Still, it was mighty tasty and thus salvaged.

QUICHE LORRAINE

Recipe from Betty Crocker

Ingredients for Crust:

• 1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp shortening (I just used butter cause it's yummier)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Ingredients for Filling:

• 8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled (1/2 cup)
• 1 cup shredded Swiss or Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups whipping cream or half-and-half
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp red pepper (I used flakes, you can also use cayenne)

To make the crust, soften butter then cut in flour and salt. Sprinkle with cold water about a Tbsp at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl. You may add a tiny bit more water to moisten more if necessary. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or until chilled.

While the crust is chilling, fry yo bacon! I cut each slice in half since the long size wouldn't fit into my frying pans unfortunately. 

Also, dice up the onion.

Preheat oven to 425F. When the dough has been thoroughly chilled, roll it out with a rolling pin. I'm baking in a springform pan but you can also use a tart or pie tin, and the rolled out dough should be about 2 inches larger in diameter than your pan (unfortunately, I think I only managed to make it 1 inch larger...). Fold pastry into fourths and place in dish, pressing firmly into sides and trimming when necessary.

 Line pastry with two layers of foil and bake for 10 minutes, then remove and bake for an additional 2-4 minutes until it starts to brown. 

Mmm buttery. Once the crust is done baking, reduce oven temperature to 325F.

To make the filling, beat 4 eggs.

In a large bowl, add in all the filling ingredients and give it a big stir. 

Pour your filling into the crust and bake for 45-50 minutes. My filling went higher than my crust unfortunately, but I was stubborn and kept pouring. Thank god I baked the springform pan in a cookie sheet which collected all the egg filling that leaked.

Piping hot quiche out of the oven. Yummy.

It was too flat :( But everything else was right. I think I'll use storebought crust in the future to save trouble.