What's for Dinner?! Loaded Quiche!

For the longest time my husband refused to eat quiche.  He said it was a girly food...like the cucumber sandwich and strawberry soup kind of girly food.  I've always loved it, so I set out to find a really good basic quiche recipe and make it better.  And since then in our house, quiche has become a refrigerator clean-out sort of food.  You know when you have some ingredients that don't have much life left on them but you can't figure exactly what to do with them all in one dish....well, make a quiche.  And now, it's become a favorite among my family and our friends.  Today I'm making one to take to a friend who just had a baby, per her request.  And as easy as they are to make, I'm delighted to oblige.  Throw in some fresh fruit and a side salad, and we have one healthy, hearty, and fresh tasting meal.  And...you can make it in the morning!

The basic recipe requires 1 pie crust, 5 eggs, and 1 1/2c half and half.  Add some Lawrys seasoning, fresh ground pepper, and that's the basics.

But honestly, I think basic can get boring.  So I like to spice it up.  Besides, if you're gonna be cleaning out your fridge, you're gonna move away from boring really quickly anyhow.

So, consider the following that I personally think you should always include.

• Some variety of sauteed onion (whether it's onion, leeks, shallots, etc....they pack some serious flavor punch.)  I always put garlic as well...no matter which other of these I use too.
• Meat (bacon, sausage, chicken, leftover steak pieces, ham, etc)
• Cheese....and usually a couple of kinds (I often have cheddar, and then maybe brie, goat cheese, jalapeno cheddar, feta, whatever you have in your fridge!)
• Veggies...I usually put fresh spinach leaves, & tomato (also try things like broccoli, artichoke, etc.)

Pre-bake the pie shell til it's golden brown (usually on about 425 for 10-15minutes.)  I typically always either make a pastry if I don't have any, but the easiest is to use the frozen deep dish shells, or the pre-rolled out pastry dough.

While that's baking, if you're using an uncooked meat like bacon or sausage, then go ahead and cook that fully.  Today I'm using bacon.  I pre-cut it into small pieces with a pair of awesome kitchen shears that I have by Cutco and then cooked it til it was crispy.  I highly recommend snagging a pair of these if you can.  I use them to trim chicken, cut through those annoying plastic things on kids toys, etc.  They will even cut a penny in half!

Drain the bacon on a paper towel and then put it in the bottom of the baked pie shell.

Reserve a couple Tbsp of bacon grease (I used peppered bacon so that the grease is even yummier) and put your leeks or onions and garlic in the grease to saute til cooked.

Then layer that on top of the bacon in the crust.

Next goes the fresh spinach and sliced tomato!  

(Mine were a tad wrinkly...not awesome for raw eating, but perfect for a quiche!)

Today in my fridge I had some jalapeno monterey jack, cheddar, and goat cheese....so what you see below is a mix of all 3!  I always put the cheese on last because it sort of creates a crust on top once you add the egg/half and half mixture.

I always make at least 2 quiches at a time because it's so easy and they freeze well.  

So here you see 10 eggs and 3c half and half.  I put probably 1/2 tsp Lawrys seasoned salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, and a dash of nutmeg in the mixture.  Beat it well.

 My mom taught me this handy trick for making quiche.  Since the egg and half and half mixture makes the quiche runny, it's best to put them on a pan in the oven and THEN pour the egg mixture in.  Also if any bubbles over, make sure you have a pan beneath or you'll have a nasty burned mess in the bottom of your oven. 

Bake them at 375 for about 45 minutes or until lightly browned on top and they don't jiggle in the center at all.  You want to let them set for about 15 minutes before you cut them as well.  I often make them in the morning and just heat it up again for supper for about 20 minutes with a piece of foil covering the top so that the crust doesn't burn.

So...if you're looking for something easy to make that's yummy.  Give this a shot!  My absolute favorite combo is the ingredients above but instead of the jalapeno monterey jack cheese, I love brie and goat cheese with the cheddar.

Oftentimes when I make a flank steak (I'll share that recipe next time I make it) and we have leftovers, I'll put pieces of that with sauteed onions and mushrooms and a spicy cheese to make a quiche.  Another good one is to use rotisserie chicken with sundried tomatoes, spinach, feta, and artichokes.   Some other things that can be fun to add... roasted red peppers, swiss cheese, thinly sliced zucchini, shrimp or crabmeat....get creative and have fun with it!

And the final product today.... 

(it'll settle down, but if I want to finish this post...you'll have to see it puffy straight out of the oven!

Bon Apetit!