We celebrated our postponed Valentine's Day yesterday by... well, basically eating a lot and sitting around. It was wonderful. After starting the day with some Homemade Granola, we enjoyed this wonderful quiche for lunch. It was my first quiche ever and I am very proud of the results! I guess it is hard to go wrong with homemade pie crust, eggs and cream involved. For dinner, we had a braised chicken and chickpea stew that was also awesome.
We enjoyed it with a mimosa and a simple arugala, pear and dried cranberry salad.
It was creamy and dreamy and a very lovely way to spend our "Valentine's Day."
By the way, check out the absolutely beautiful earring holder Brandon made me this year -- it is a piece of mesh screen that he stretched onto an old window frame. I absolutely love it. It is awesome. He is a wonderful husband.
The animals were also in a loving mood yesterday... they hung out with us by the fire after lunch...
What a pair...
Sasha gets a Lupa kiss!
Betsi also was her cute self and enjoyed the fire.
Anyway, back to the quiche. This recipe was sooo good. We are eating it again for lunch today. It seems like a very adaptable recipe that you could put any number of fillings in with wonderful results. The crust and custard are easy enough. Here's how you make it.
For the crust, I halved a simple butter crust recipe. I incorporated the butter by hand, rather than in a food processor, to get a flaky dough.
Pate Brisee
(for 1 9 inch tart)
6 oz all purpose flour
small pinch salt
1 stick very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1-3 oz. ice water
Whisk flour and salt. Add cold butter. Using fingers or two butter knives, cut butter into dough so dough resembles coarse meal and chunks of butter are no larger than pea-size.
Add ice water slowly and mix until moist crumbs form.
Turn dough onto surface and form into a disc, about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
To pre-bake tart crust, set oven to 400 degrees F. Place chilled dough on floured work surface (use a marble surface if possible) and roll out into a 1/8 inch thick round, 2 inches larger than pan.
Very gently, fold dough into quarters, place in tart pan, and gently unfold (or partly roll onto rolling pin and unroll into pan).
Lifting edges, ease dough into pan, flattening along bottom of pan, and pressing dough up sides.
Use rolling pin and roll over top of pan to cut off excess dough. Press around sides so they stand about 1/8 of an inch above metal pan.
Use dull edge of knife to decorate edges of dough. Poke bottom of crust all over with a fork.
Line shell with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
Bake 10 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake for 3-4 minutes more. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and chill crust on rack while you prepare quiche filling.
Quiche Filling Ingredients
1 Tbs. butter
1 small shallot, diced + 1 leek (white part only), thinly sliced.
Most of 1/2 lb. bag of baby spinach
1 cup (4 oz) grated Gruyère cheese
1/2 cup or so of ham, thinly sliced (optional)
4 eggs
approximately 1 cup half-and-half
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and leeks and saute until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
Add spinach and cook until wilted.
Transfer spinach to a colander and press excess liquid from spinach. Put bre-baked pie crust on a baking sheet. Arrange spinach mixture in even layer in bre-baked pie crust.
Top with grated Gruyère and sliced ham.
In 2 cup measuring cup, lightly beat 4 large eggs. Add half and half so
mixture measures about 1 1/2 cups. Add pinch nutmeg and salt and
pepper. Stir to combine. Pour custard mixture over filling, being
careful not to overfill.
Bake quiche on baking sheet at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes, until filling is completely set in center and top is golden. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving.
Slice and enjoy!
Oh and I must share just a couple more sleepy Lupa pictures before I go... she is the cutest thing alive...
-- Anya
