Quiche

As far as I have been able to find out,   quiches originated in the regions of Alsace and Lorraine in the border areas between Germany and France.   At its most basic, a quiche is an unsweetened egg custard baked with cheese in a pie crust.   The classic French recipe for quiche, Quiche Lorraine, adds only bacon to this.   The possible variations on quiche are limited by your imagination.   The recipe below is for Quiche Lorraine.   The variations will give a sense of what you can do with this.

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.

Press the pie crust into the pan and flute the edges.

Fry the bacon until it is very crisp.   Drain the grease off of it with paper towels.

Put the cheese into the bottom of the pie crust.   Place the bacon over it.

Beat together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg.   Pour it into the pie crust.   Set the butter on top of the filled pie.   Bake at 375°F for 35 - 45 minutes.   The quiche is done when the custard is completely set and the pie crust is nicely browned.

Notes

1:   Half and half or milk can be substituted for the cream.   I have found that the
      higher the fat content of the liquid added to the eggs, the fluffier and puffier the
      quiche.   If you're concerned about the richness, calories or fat content of the
      dish, reduce the fat content of the liquid.   Whole milk is okay, though not
      better than okay, while 2% milk isn't that good for this.   Needless to say, skim
      milk doesn't work well.

2:   Traditionally, a flan ring is used as the pan to bake quiche in.   Unless you need
      it for something else, why bother?   I use a 10 inch pie pan.   A shallow cake
      pan for a layer cake will also work.

3:   I often half-bake the crust before putting the cheese, filling and custard in.
      Bake at 450°F for 5 - 7 minutes, remove, reduce the heat to 375°, add the stuff
      and return to the oven.

Variations

Note:   A quiche has 4 components: pie crust, cheese, filling and custard.   Any of them can be varied.   It is still a quiche as long as all four are there.

Custards:

1:   Substitute 1 cup of sour cream or yogurt for the whipping cream in the custard.

Fillings:

(Use instead of the bacon)

1:   Clean and wash 1 lb of fresh spinach.   Chop a small onion.   Saute the onion in
      a dutch oven in 2 Tbs butter.   Add the spinach and a couple of Tbs water.
      Cook the spinach, covered over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally until the
      spinach is well cooked and its size reduced.   Season with a dash of nutmeg and
      a dash of pepper.   Place the spinach mixture over the cheese and add the
      custard.   Bake.

2:   Substitute 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese for the Swiss.   Cut 1-1/2 lb fresh
      asparagus into 1 inch pieces.   Discard the really tough sections at the base.
      Cook in boiling water until softened but not soggy.   Drain the asparagus.   Put
      over the cheese, add custard and bake.   Season with a little basil.   This also
      works well with 1/2 lb of green beans.   Tarragon is a good seasoning for the
      green beans.

3:   Substitute 8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese for the Swiss.   Slice 4 large carrots.
      Cook in boiling water until softened but not soggy.   Glaze these:   Melt 2 Tbs
      butter in a skillet, add carrots.   Sprinkle with dash of salt, dash of pepper, dash
      of nutmeg and 2 Tbs sugar.   Cook slowly turning occasionally until all the
      carrots are coated with the glaze.   Put over cheese, add custard and bake.

4:   Slice 1/2 lb mushrooms.   Melt 3 Tbs butter over medium heat.   Cook the
      mushrooms until all the moisture that comes out of them has evaporated.
      Season with a dash of salt, a dash of pepper and a dash of rosemary.   Put over
      cheese, add custard, bake.

5:   Chop 1 green and 1 red bell pepper.   Do mushroom quiche as in (4) but
      toward the end of cooking the mushrooms add the bell peppers.   Of course,
      you can also add onions to this or to (4).

6:   Slice 5 onions.   Brown in 1/4 cup butter until they are softened and the
      moisture is gone.   Season heavily with salt, pepper and paprika.

7:   Cut 1 green bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper into slices.
      Roast these on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350°F until they soften and smell
      wonderful, about 15-25 minutes.   Turn them every 5 minutes or so.   While
      the peppers are roasting, slice a medium onion into rings.   Saute in a little
      butter or olive oil until they soften. Use the peppers and onions as a filling.
      These go well with a mild white cheese such as monterey jack or mozarella.

      Note: Many vegetables will work.   Just cook them before hand and use an
      appropriate seasoning.

8:   Spread dijon mustard over 1/2 lb of boiled ham slices.   Cut these into small
      pieces.   Put over cheese, add custard and bake.

9:   To (8) add some fried onions and season with 1 tsp chili powder.

      Note: Many meats will work.   Make sure that they are fully cooked and in
      small pieces.   Again, find an appropriate seasoning.

10: Substitute 8 oz. cheddar cheese for Swiss.   Melt 2 Tbs butter in a skillet over
      high heat.   Brown 1/2 lb fat-free ground round in the butter, stirring constantly.
      When cooked and moisture free, season with salt and pepper.   Place over
      cheese, add custard and bake.

11: Cook enough wild rice to yield 1 cup of cooked wild rice (or use leftover wild
      rice).   Chop up a small onion.   Saute in 1 Tbs butter with 1/3 cup chopped
      Canadian bacon (or cooked ham) until the onion is tender.   Spoon into the pie
      crust.   Cover with 8 oz grated Monterey Jack cheese and wild rice.   Add
      custard and bake.

      Note: This last one is an example of some of the weird combinations that you
      can come up with.