This quiche is like a heart attack in a pan. Don’t let that deter you. It wouldn’t be such a bad way to go.
I picked up this recipe from one of my favorite low-budget cafes in Baltimore that offers thick, creamy slabs of quiche alongside seasonal soups. Each buttery bite tastes like the end of the world. I asked the chef for the recipe, and she wrote it down for me on a piece of paper: 3 yolks 1 cup cream 1 cup milk 2 eggs. Miraculously, after a couple years and a couple moves, I found the magic recipe in my desk drawer, right where I left it.
This the perfect Sunday afternoon project after you’ve spent a night dancing to Ra Ra Rasputin and eating jumbo slice pizza and talking about going to Burning Man only to find out the next day that all the tickets are sold out except the 300+ ones and there’s no way you’re going to pay that so you need something to solace your wounded creative soul (preferably with lots of cream and butter) and the windows are thrown open and you’re drinking coffee with milk and maple syrup and Frank Sinatra and Avi Buffalo and Ira Glass are serenading you from the other room.
To make a quiche, you’ll need a food processor and a removable-bottom tart pan (you can find these at kitchen stores, Bed Bath & Beyond, or maybe Target). You can make the tart shell without a food processor – it will just take longer – and you can use a pie pan or other tart pan for baking – your quiche will just have a different shape and the structure may not hold up as well.
A note about difficulty: I’ve rated this quiche as hard to make. It’s not. But the recipe has several steps and requires some time and patience. If you’re hesitating about taking it on, take it on. It’s so worth it.
leek and mushroom quiche
(rubik’s cube)
adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Smitten Kitchen
TART DOUGH
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 pound unsalted butter, cold
3 to 5 T ice water, as needed
Mix the flour and alt in a large mixing bowl, then cut in the butter using your fingertips. If using a food processor, cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes, scatter over the flour, and pulse to combine until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Working quickly, lightly stir in the water with a fork, one tablespoon at a time, until you can bring the dough together in a ball. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400.
To par-bake the shell: Roll out the chilled dough as quickly as possible on a lightly-floured surface until is about 2 inches larger all around than your pie pan. Either reverse the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the mold or fold it into quarters and lay it over the mold, unfolding it. Press the dough lightly into the bottom of the pan, lifting the edges and working it gently down into the mold. Trim off excess dough by rolling the pin over the top of the mold. If the dough tears in places, it’s okay – just take scraps of leftover dough, wet the edges with some water, and patch it up.
With your fingertips, push the dough 1/8-inch above the edge of the mold, to make an even, rounded rim of dough around the inside circumference of the mold. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals.
Line the pastry with foil and fill it with pie weights, uncooked rice or beans and bake for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove the foil and bake the shell for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove it from the oven when the shell is just starting to color and just beginning to shrink from the sides of the mold.
QUICHE
2-4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced and rinsed well
1/2 cup water
salt
3 T butter
few handfuls of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 T sherry or port
1 cup whole milk
1 cup cream
3 egg yolks
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated swiss cheese (like a Gruyere or a Jarlsberg)
pre-baked tart shell
Preheat the oven to 375.
Boil the leeks over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed, covered saucepan with 1/2 cup water, two tablespoons butter and a teaspoon of salt until it the liquid has almost evaporated. Lower the heat and stew gently for 20 to 30 minutes until leeks are very tender and sweet. Put them aside in a bowl.
Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan along with the sliced mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and sherry or port. Cover the pan and cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes. Uncover. Raise the heat and boil for several minutes until the liquid has completely evaporated and the mushrooms are beginning to saute in their butter. Stir the cooked mushrooms into the leek mixture, and let them cool before adding to the eggs (otherwise, the eggs will start cooking a bit).
Beat the eggs, yolks, cream and milk in a large mixing bowl to blend. Gradually stir in the leek and mushroom mixture and half of the grated cheese. Season with s&p. Pour carefully into the tart shell, being careful not to overflow with eggy goodness. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until puffed and browned, and stick a baking sheet in a rack below the quiche to catch any drippings. (Note: I baked my quiche in the middle of the oven, not the upper third, and the top didn’t brown after 30 minutes. My mistake. So I moved the rack up and stuck the quiche under the broiler for a few minutes to get the golden cheesy crust on top.)
