What’s for Dinner? It’s Quiche, Capish?

If I ever open a restaurant, it’s going to specialize in quiche and be called ‘Quiche Capish?’. Why? Because I make quiche that is rock me Amadeus good, no lie. Tony and I owned a bed a breakfast for a couple years and the one thing I learned to do, besides how to work myself into an early grave, was how to make a mean quiche. Like, so mean when you set it on the table it will punch you in the face if you don’t eat it fast enough. But I can’t be certain because it’s always eaten so quickly, even by my kids. For the first time, I’m sharing my secrets to successful quiche. (Quick, go pop in a movie for the kids, I’ll need your full attention.)

So my big secret? Lots of eggs. I use a nine inch pie pan, with a typical shortening crust but I use at least six eggs, sometimes as many as eight if they’re small. Granted, we have chickens so I have a steady stream of farm fresh, free range eggs. So many in fact, that a quiche is a good way to use them up. With so many eggs, I use less than a cup of milk typically. This is unlike other recipes I’ve seen where it’s two eggs to almost two cups milk. Blech. Maybe that’s fine for quiche light weights, but not around here where I expect a quiche to fill up, and stick with, seven people.

And just like a quiche is a good way to use up eggs, it’s good for using up anything else that’s lying around your fridge. I’ve made mexican inspired quiche with leftover chili or taco meat, cheddar and salsa thrown in. Or, like tonight, I used peperoni, pizza blend cheese, fresh diced tomato and some leftover tomato sauce with mushrooms. We also had leftover KFC  I combined with cheddar and brocolli.

Plus, quiche freezes well, so make a few in disposable pie pans, wrap in foil and pull out next time the thought of cooking from scratch makes your head explode.

In a nutshell, start with lots of these;

One way or another, get yourself a crust. (Frozen will work but a homemade crust is always better. I still use a recipe from the classic BHG cookbook.)

Combine the two and bake until the center isn’t jiggly. It’s very scientific. Years of experimenting  have taught me the quiche will be done in one hour…give or take 15 minutes.

That’s plently of time to clean up the mess. …or pour a glass of wine if you haven’t already.

Once the quiche stops jiggling, set the table and prepare to enjoy a feast! And if you’re like my family, your children will select the ‘Cantina Band’ track on the Star Wars CD and break into a quiche fueled dance frenzy.

Of course that left Tony and I free to sit back and enjoy a nice meal together.

Obviously, just another day in paradise here folks. Now, take what you’ve learned and go make some quiche, capish?