"quiche" news and stories

Today is National Quiche Lorraine Day.

Named for the Lorraine region of France -- and borrowing from "kuchen," the German word for cake that was eventually altered to "kische" -- the quiche Lorraine is a hallmark French dish that dates back to the 16th century and is still served in France as a light lunch available at boulangeries, or a first course or hors d'oeuvre at dinnertime.

Julia Child, in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, described the original quiche Lorraine as an open pie with a filling consisting of an an egg and cream custard with smoked bacon or lardons. Today, in France, the quiche Lorraine is filled with beaten eggs, créme fraîche and bacon pieces all baked in a flaky pastry shell, but it's still served without the addition of cheese (in the U.S. we often add Gruyere). The addition of onions technically makes it a "quiche Alsacienne."

For the American-born French food expert and chef Thomas Keller's quiche Lorraine recipe, check out Chowhound's helpful discussion on baking your perfect tart.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Crustless quiche. Photo: Pink of Perfection.

Professional chefs can spend hours using expensive ingredients to make beautiful dishes, that, on rare occasions, are so perfect we're afraid to eat them. But many home cooks manage to spend very little time and money on dishes that are equally appetizing.

Case in point: this quick crustless quiche from Pink of Perfection's Sarah McColl. While the lack of crust might make it more of a frittata than a quiche, we're more concerned with what's in it than what's not. Packed with portobello mushrooms, frozen spinach and an onion, this eggy meal is easy as pie (no, it's easier) and, better yet, it costs only $5 to make!

[Via Pink of Perfection]

Last night on a subway halfway under the East River a quick purse excavation confirmed what we suddenly feared -- a distinct lack of house keys on our person. The day's lunch of leftover Easter ham and homemade challah bread satisfied our epicurean side but was woefully inadequate when it came to blood sugar maintenance -- hence the walking away, the leaving the keys behind and the "aw, crap!"

We panic a tad in moments like this and scramble right to our happy comfort place -- mentally cataloging the contents of our fridge, flipping the pieces this way and that until they interlocked and a picture formed.

The ham, gotta get through the ham. Well it could go with the red cabbage ... no, no ... the scallions. And eggs, oh right! We remembered to buy eggs. Tortilla espanola? Oh wait, got it -- still have that puff pastry left over from the Eccles cakes and that makes ... sacre damn bleu! We've got the makings for a serious quiche -- if we can actually get into the house.

By some strange miracle (we like to think it's The Secret, of course) our beloved husband materialized on the same train car two stops before ours, and in lieu of a civilized "Hi honey, how was your day?" we collapsed into him sighing "We'regonnahavequichetonightpleasedon'targue." Once in the house, we made a beeline for the Julia Child to verify proportions, and got to rolling, chopping, whisking -- grateful not to have to think, just to act. Half an hour later, there was a ridiculously delicious quiche in front of us, without single extra cent or second spent at the grocery store.

Perhaps y'all are more forward-thinking than some of us, but when do you actually decide what's going to be for dinner that night? Do you cook it all up on Sunday, and apportion throughout the week? Do you daydream about what's on hand and pick up any extra ingredients on the way home? Or do you stand in front of the fridge, staring, and make do with what's in front of you?




Get the Ham and Gruyere Quiche recipe after the jump.

As much as I love eggs, quiche was never one of my favorite dishes. I could appreciate the taste, but a few bites would always be more than enough. Nevertheless, the other day I decided to make one for myself and it makes all the difference.

Forget recipes with carefully measured ingredients. The key to a perfect quiche is filling it with tastes you love. It's that simple. If you don't want it to be too eggy, use less egg and more filler. If you want it to be less dry, fill it up with your favorite cheeses. If you hate to eat eggs without bread, make sure some grainy flavor and texture comes through in the pie crust.

The above quiche is a super-quick crab and asparagus. The crust was a quick recipe from RecipeZaar, that I threw a little multigrain flour into, as well as an extra cup of ground, toasted pine nuts. The asparagus was chopped and blanched for a few minutes while the quiche came together -- the crust, a generous layer of crab (imitation in this case) and asparagus, plus some chopped shallots, fresh basil and a mixture of leftover cheese. The eggs where whipped up with a generous helping of sour cream and poured in, and the quiche was baked at 350 until the top was firm and gentle pressure didn't release uncooked streams of gelatinous egg.

The pine nuts offered an excellent toasty flavor while the creamy eggs and cheese melded perfectly with the basil, crab, and asparagus. But really -- the flavor is up to you.

What's your favorite quiche flavor combination?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm in the process of working my way through my family's cookbook. One of the contributors was my neighbor and babysitter, Edie. In addition to teaching me how to make a mean gin and tonic, as well as the basics of ceramic sculpture, Edie also took it upon herself to ensure that I had a strong education in the essentials of gourmet cookery. Among other things, this meant keeping a jar full of dried mushrooms in the kitchen, as she felt that it signaled to all visitors "that one was a true gourmet."

This title of this recipe might lead one to believe that it's some sort of meat and cheese mix; in reality, it lands somewhere between a quiche and a quick bread. The original recipe used mild chiles and cream cheese, but I found that increasing the heat and reducing the fat made it even tastier. I've seen other versions of this dish on the internet, but none of them are as light and delicate as this one. It's a snap to make, and keeps beautifully in the refrigerator.

For the chiles, I used La Morena escabeche-style jalapenos, but almost any kind will work.