There
are chickens in my backyard, living large in my horse barn and
free-ranging all over the fields. This means there are eggs to gather
every day and THAT means I put a premium on dishes using eggs. Don’t want
to waste such good protein.
So it’s surprising that I hardly ever make a quiche.
I love the things, however my family is whole-heartedly lukewarm about the
dish. But the other day my friend grabbed some of my eggs and came back
with a delicious and warm slice of “thank you” quiche, flavored with
cheddar cheese and tender chunks of hothouse asparagus.
The best part, though, was the diced, smoked sweet
ham laced through the creamy quiche. The ham was from her own pig,
butchered last fall.
That’s the noteworthy fact about quiches – they are
very flexible and adaptable. Think of them as an egg custard pie to which
you can add flavors, stuffings and toppings to suit most occasions. And
they’re really easy to make if you take advantage of the pre-made pastry
crust from your supermarket’s refrigerator section.
Do you have holiday ham or lamb left over? Dice it
into the egg mixture for a quiche, add some onions, layer sharp or Swiss
cheese on top and bake. Actually, many leftovers, from meat to vegetables
to herbs can be thrown into the pie. Pot-luck quiche.
And you can even make it into elegant,
company-quality hors d’Oeuvres either by cutting the pie into very thin
wedges or by cutting the pie crust into circles that will fit tart pans
(use the floured rim of a glass that will cut the right size circle) and
filling the pans with the egg mix.
Once I was at an occasion where the last course was a
dessert quiche, a slice of quiche made with sweet ricotta cheese, cinnamon
and apples. It was topped with a fruit syrup, raspberry, I think.
Here is a recipe for a basic quiche, no meat or other
additions. You could even eliminate the onions. The Gruyere cheese is a
mild cheese and Swiss can be substituted for it. I don’t know what the
rule is, if any, but if it doesn’t have cheese it’s probably called a
custard and not a quiche. Use this basic as a starting point if you wish
to get creative.
