Quiche

Quiche is one of the most adaptable dishes. I like it because, not only is it tasty, but you can put a large variety of ingredients from the garden into the quiche. Now, there are probably a thousand different ways to make quiche, but here is how I approach it:

1. The crust. Traditionally, this should involve lots of butter and/or lard. However, I've experimented over the years and have come up with the following recipe for the crust: a) place 1 cup of flour (take your pick, but don't use only whole wheat, otherwise it won't bind) in a bowl, b) add 1/2 tsp salt, c) slowly add olive oil and mix until you have something that looks like breadcrumbs. Take your time to break up lumps, and don't add too much oil. Better a little less than too much. d) Add water until the whole thing binds together into a wet dough (wetter than bread dough).
Once you have a dough, roll it with a rolling pin and line your pie dish appropriately. Some people pre-bake the crust, I don't, but I think it can be a useful idea on occasion.

2. The custard. Many recipes call for heavy cream. I dislike this idea intensely. I use milk and any liquid drained from the par-cooked vegetables (see below). Again, after much experimentation I've settled on the following easy formula. For one quiche, break three eggs into a measuring cup and note the volume. Add an EQUAL volume of liquid (milk + drained liquid from step 3) to the eggs and whisk it all together. I also add salt in to the mixture at this point, but you'll have to judge how much. For example, if you add olives into the filling, you'll use less salt than if you don't add olives into the filling. Since you can add just about anything into the filling, there is no formula for the salt.

3. The filling. Well, here is where you go to the garden and pick something. You can make a filling out of any of the following things: Broccoli, Swiss chard, bacon, ham, mushrooms, olives, beet leaves, spinach, sweet potato leaves, zucchini flowers, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, chives, just to name a few. Now, I do have an opinion about herbs. Hopefully you have a thriving herb garden... In my opinion, there are three, maybe four herbs that go exceedingly well with egg. They are: Tarragon, thyme, oregano, and maybe sweet marjoram. You might also try and experiment with different combinations of these four herbs. What I generally do at this point is a sort of a stir-fry/steam to par-cook the filling before adding it to the pie dish. I start with the pan really hot, caramelize the onions a touch (a technique I learned from Yuhfen), then add the leafy veg/mushrooms or whatever and finish with herbs after steaming for a minute or two. I drain any excess liquid (very important step) and add it to the egg mixture (step 2).

4. The cheese. Yes, I do need to get my dose of cholestrol and this is where I get it. There are many variants I like. Variant 1: Grate yourself some cheddar, gouda, gruyere, or whatever your favorite cheese is and sprinkle on top. Variant 2: Grate parmesan cheese on top (please, if you do one thing, get yourself a block of real parmesan and a micrograter). Variant 3: Use feta. Mmm so good, I feel hungry just writing this...

5. Bake at 180C (that's 350F for those stuck in the world of imperial units) for about 45 min. to 1 hour. (I set the timer for 45 and check for browning on top.)