More Than Quiche Lorraine

I love quiche. It is so easy to make and you can put nearly anything in it, making it a perfect dish for those Old Mother Hubbard days when the cupboard is mostly bare. Today I woke up wanting to make a quiche and while I was considering what to put in it I realized that all I really had was some frozen asparagus stalks that I had saved to flavor soups and stews, some goat cheese crumbles, a jar of Parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not the powdered stuff), onions, two tomatoes from my patio, garlic from a jar, and carrots. So this is what I used.


I think that all quiche needs a green vegetable, onions, garlic, carrot and cheese. Because Ishtiaq is Muslim, we don't eat pork meaning bacon is not an option for us. Bacon is probably the most popular quiche ingredient in the world but it isn't necessary as long as you have something else salty and savory to take its place. If you look at quiche recipes you will see that they vary widely in ingredients, measurements, and cook times. This recipe is influenced by my reading of many different recipes and then just inventing one that is easy for me. You truly can put whatever you want in quiche.

In regards to eggs and milk, we get our eggs from a local farmer and they are really strong. So I only use about four. I've seen recipes that call for six but that's too many for us. Also, I find that quiche is better is you use a mix of heavy whipping cream and milk. I keep heavy cream on hand because my son really likes scrambled eggs and adding a dash to the eggs before scrambling makes them nice, light and fluffy. You could certainly use Eggbeaters and milk instead of cream. Again, quiche is really forgiving and versatile.

I use a store-bought, deep dish pie crust because I am terrible at making them. Recently I was visiting Boot Hill in Dodge City, Kansas and an old woman who runs a gift shop there told me that the tricks to a great pie crust are vinegar and ice cubes. Maybe so but I am currently content to let the nice people at the grocery store provide me with my pie crusts.

My ingredients are going to be estimates only because I just tend to dump things into my pan and bowls during preparation. Don't let that throw you because exactness also isn't necessary when making quiche.


Quiche Bercha (Collected from Lots of Different Places)

Remember that all of these ingredient measurements are to taste.

4 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream (heavy whipping cream is heavy cream)
3/4 cup of milk
2 ounces of goat cheese crumbles
1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon of chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
8-9 cranks of black pepper from the pepper mill
1/4 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup of asparagus, diced
3 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1 very small onion
A few splashes of chicken broth (optional)
1 deep dish pie crust
Olive oil


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a skillet heat olive oil and add carrots. Add salt and pepper. Cook until slightly soft, add asparagus and onion. Cook until all vegetables are soft and add garlic. During the cooking process I like to splash in a little chicken broth to keep my vegetables from getting too brown. This also deepens the flavor.

While vegetables are cooking, place pie crust on a cookie sheet for support and to catch bubble-overs while baking. To pie crust add the cheeses, tomatoes, and, when cooked, the vegetables.

In a bowl mix Tabasco sauce, eggs, milk, and cream. Mix well and pour over the things in the pie crust.

Bake until set. Mine took about 25 minutes to bake. It is set when it no longer jiggles. Quiche needs to sit before cutting for about 15 minutes at the very least or it will fall apart. My husband usually cannot wait that long so we cut our after about five minutes and eat it as a casserole instead of a pie. But it's quiche! You can do what you want!


(I am still figuring out how to get photos set into these blog posts so figure my poor layouts.)