That 70's Show: Quiche

I've been planning at least one post to discuss the Julia Child 100 promotion. August 15, 2012 would have been Child's 100th birthday, and Alfred A. Knopf is sponsoring a celebration which began on May 7, 100 days in advance of the big day. A group of her most popular, influential, and iconic recipes have been selected for a world-wide cook-along; each week one of the recipes is selected and cooks, writers, and bloggers of all stripes give that recipe a try.

I haven't yet participated with the recipe-of-the-week, but Julia and I are old friends. Details about that will come in a future post, but today I'm writing about a dish I learned from her:  Quiche. Given the Julia celebration, I'd been thinking about this and other recipes already. Then, lo and behold, fellow Nashville food blogger Lesley Eats recently confessed to the fact that quiche was a bit of a personal Waterloo. The convergence of the two events inspired me to brush the cobwebs off my recipe and make one.

Quiche has been around a long time, but it became popular in American restaurants and homes in the 70's, and was still going strong in the '80s. During that heyday I made it during my tenure at two different restaurants while in college. As with any dish that becomes popular, there are a million permutations, many of which are, well, bad. Quiche is a savory egg custard tart. It is not a fritatta in a crust, it is not scrambled-egg pie, it is not a metric ton of ingredients held together by some eggs and milk. The cheese (if used) and/or other filling ingredients shouldn't overpower the custard, which should be allowed to shine through. Another mistake many restaurants have always made is to serve it piping-hot with a limp crust, usually as a result of being reheated in a microwave. Freshly baked, warm from the oven after a rest is fine. Gently rewarmed in the oven is fine. It's even good at room temperature. But please, whatever you do, don't nuke the life out of it.

Below is my recipe, adapted from The French Chef Cookbook, the companion book to Child's first TV show. Some important tips:

• Julia's original recipe called for partially pre-baking the shell. I've come to prefer a fully baked shell, not only for quiche but for any pie that's going to be baked after filling. It's really the only way to get a good, flaky, crisp crust.
• I use half-and-half for quiche most of the time. Some of Julia's recipes use cream, some use milk; it depends on what other ingredients are included. You may use any combination of whole milk, half-and-half, or cream. I have even made it with part milk and part evaporated milk. For best results, though, don't use non-fat or 1% fat milk.
• Don't overbake -- Cooking a custard too long can cause it to separate and weep moisture.

Quiche

The Crust
1 unbaked, deep-dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 450. Make sure pie shell has no cracks or splits. Lightly poke the bottom all over with a fork. If you have pie weights, place those in the bottom of the crust. If not, line the bottom with paper coffee filters or parchment paper and add a layer of raw rice or dried beans. This weight will prevent the crust from humping up as it cooks. Bake for about 10 minutes, then remove the weights and/or paper. Continue baking another few minutes until the bottom starts to color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

The Filling
While the crust is baking, prepare whatever flavorings you plan to use; if cooked, make sure they are cooled to at least lukewarm before combining with the custard. (See Variations, below.) In this particular case, I made something like a Quiche Florentine and used:

1/4 cup finely chopped onion & shallot mixture
3 large mushrooms, thinly sliced
A fat handful of spinach, larger stems removed, sliced into strips
olive oil
salt

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to thinly film the bottom of the pan (about 2 tsp). Add the mushrooms and saute a couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion and a sprinkle of salt and saute another couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Add spinach and saute, until spinach wilts, just a minute or so. Remove from heat.

The Custard
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/4 tsp salt
pinch each of nutmeg and white pepper

Put the eggs in a small mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until frothy. Add the half-and-half, nutmeg, salt, & pepper and mix well.

Assembly
Crust, Filling, Custard
3/4 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Preheat the oven to 375. Put the filling in the cooled pie shell, then gently pour the custard over it. Bake for 45 minutes until the custard is set and the top is lightly browned. If the crust rim starts to get too brown, cover with a ring of foil paper or pie guard. Allow the quiche to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Variations

You don't want the total of cheese and other fillings to exceed about 1 1/4 cups.

Lorraine: Add several slices of crisply cooked, crumbled bacon to the custard mixture.

Vegetable: Add up to 1/2 cup of your favorite chopped, lightly sauteed or blanched vegetables. Be sure and squeeze to remove excess moisture first if needed.

Three Cheese: Reduce Gruyere/Swiss cheese to 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup each of two other cheeses such as cheddar, parmesan, etc.

It's Summer, So It Must Be Zucchini Time

This frittata is one of those dishes that's more than just the sum of its parts. It's a good way to use a generous amount of zucchini, it's a nice lower-fat vegetarian main dish, and is very tasty. The tomato side is optional but is a nice piquant contrast to the creamy greenness of the frittata, and rounds out the plate well.

The original recipe (from Eating Well) calls for fresh marjoram, but really you could use just about any herb or herb combination. The last time I made it I used a dried Italian herb blend, of course using only 1/3 of the amount of the fresh herb called for. To boost the heartiness of the dish and to provide some starch, I added a bit of cooked potato to the mix. I prefer to use grape, cherry, or plum tomatoes for the side; regular "slicing" tomatoes are too juicy and break down too much in the saute. Finally, since I was cooking for just me, I cut the recipe in half, using a medium well-seasoned iron skillet. If you use the non-stick skillet called for, be sure that it's one that is oven safe.



Zucchini-Ricotta Frittata with Warm Tomato Garnish
adapted from Eating Well

1 1/2 pounds zucchini, coarsely grated
1 1/8 tsp salt, divided
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Monterrey Jack cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh marjoram (or other herbs)
1 cup cooked diced red or white boiling potato (optional)
2/3 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

for the garnish:
2 1/2 cup chopped tomato (preferably grape, cherry, or plum)
1 medium shallot, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tsp chopped fresh marjoram (or other herbs)
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss zucchini with 1 tsp salt in a medium bowl; put in colander to drain for 20-30 minutes. Rinse briefly and squeeze dry.
2. Whisk eggs with pepper and remaining salt in a large bowl. Stir in cheese, herbs, and cooked potato (if using).
   
3. Preheat broiler.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until water evaporates (5-6 min). Add to egg mixture, stirring to mix well.
   
5. Wipe skillet clean and return to medium-high heat. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil in the skillet, then add egg mixture and reduce heat to medium-low. Dollop ricotta over the top.
6. Cook until eggs are set on bottom but the top is still wet (5-7 min). Transfer skillet to broiler and broil until done (3-5 min).

For tomato garnish: Toss all ingredients together. Cook in a skillet for a couple of minutes, until warm and releasing juices.