Bake 52 Week 1: Quiche

 

From The America's Test Kitchen: Family Baking Book

Quiche 
p. 72-74

There are many different ways to do quiche, which is why I picked it for the first post. Like I said before: "The reasoning(of why I choose this recipe)...I like quiche, not very many people make it, and it is so versatile." Therefore, there are many recipes to choose from. 
I chose Broccoli Cheese Quiche.
And I used Easiest Ever Press-In Single-Crust Pie Dough on p.363 and let me tell you it was the easiest pie crust I have ever used, the only thing that I noticed was it was on the sweet side, not that there is anything wrong with that.


Easiest Ever Press-In Single-Crust Pie Dough 

• 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• .25 teaspoons salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1. Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Whisk the flower, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. 
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer on medium/high speed until completely combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium/low and beat in the flower mixture until it resembles course crumbs, about 20 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium/high and beat until the dough begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.
3. Transfer 3 tablespoons of the dough to a small bowl. Turn the remaining dough clumps out onto a lightly floured counter, gather into a ball, and flatten into a 6 inch disk. Transfer the disk to the prepared pie plate.
4. Follow the photos below, press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pie plate using the heel of your hand. With your fingertips, continue to work the dough over the bottom of the plate and up the sides until evenly distributed.
5. On a lightly floured counter, roll the reserved 3 tablespoons of dough into three 8-inch long ropes. Arrange the ropes around the top of the pie plate, leaving small gaps between them. Squeeze the ropes into the crust to make a uniform edge. Following the photos on page 362, crimp the edge of the dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until the dough is fully chilled and firm, about 30 minutes, before using.


Broccoli Cheese Quiche

• 1 recipe single-crust pie dough, fitted into a 9-inch pie plate and chilled

Filling:

• 5 large eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• .25 teaspoon salt
• .25 teaspoon pepper
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1cup)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Following the photos on page 363, line the chilled crust with a double layer of foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until the pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack and remove the weights and foil. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees. (the crust must still be warm when the filling is added.)

2. FOR THE FILLING: Whisk the eggs, half-and-half, chives, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Stir in the cheddar until well combined. Transfer the filling to a 4-cup liquid measuring cup.

VARIATION
Do not substitute frozen broccoli here.
Bring 4 cups bite-sized broccoli florets, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a covered 12-inch skillet and cook until the broccoli is bright green, about 3 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until the broccoli is tender and the water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Pat the broccoli dry with paper towels, then sprinkle it over the warm pie shell before adding the egg mixture.


3. Place the warm pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven. Carefully pour the egg mixtures into the warm shell until it reaches about 1/2 inch from the top edge of the crust (you may have extra egg mixture).

4. Bake the quiche until the top is lightly browned, the center is set but soft, and a knife inserted about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let the quiche cool for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Review:
I loved the crust,  I forgot to only partially bake it so it came out a bit more brown and I didn't chill it before cooking because well I wasn't patient enough, however, it was still way good. I didn't have half and half but I had something better: heavy whipping cream. I did some math and mixed the WC with milk to make half and half. I over cooked the broccoli as well, but it didn't make a difference really, and I don't really like my broccoli under cooked, so it all worked out. Tyler and I did not wait the hour after it was down cooking to eat it, we were starving! I think I should have varied from the recipe and added onions and garlic and maybe some more spices because it seemed a little plain. So I made a ton of mistakes and it still was really good. I hope everyone else had similar or even better experiences than me. Here are some pics:

Happy Husband! That's the goal.