Real Men Love Quiche

Real Men Love Quiche
Last Sunday I found a couple pints of whipped cream leftover from the decadent holidays.  Indulging in whipped cream or dessert is not on the January diet so I decided to make quiche.  With enough ingredients to make two, I thought an extra would come in handy during our busy workweek.  Boy was I right!  We had quiche for dinner last night with a green salad (tasty red leaf butter lettuce on sale this week at Whole Foods – 2 for $3).  It is a working parent’s treat to have dinner already made at least one night a week.
The only quiche I’ve ever made was my mom’s recipe for a 10 inch pie.  I believe in making do with what I have on hand, so this is how it went:
Pastry dough (yes I made it from scratch and you can too!)  It’s easier than making pancakes and takes 5 minutes.  This recipe is also from my mom’s head.  As I said when I started this blog, I want to record some of these Sanders – Bouldt – Tribout family recipes that are adaptations of generations of cooks.

  • 1 ½ c. flour
  • 1 cold cube of butter, chopped
  • 3T shortening
  • 1/3 c. cold water 

I mix it straight on the marble.  No bowl, no utensils; just my fingers and the ingredients.  Blend fat into flour, drizzle water carefully as you may not use it all (depends on atmospheric pressure). Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill for 2 hours. 
 ALTERNATIVE: BUY A PRE-MADE PASTRY DOUGH FROM THE STORE (NOT PUFF PASTRY) 
For the quiche mixture:
Sauté a cup of chopped onions, a cup of cubed ham, a clove of garlic in some butter.  Roll out the pastry dough, position it on the pie plate, and blind bake for 12 minutes at 400 F.
Beat 5 large eggs in a bowl and add 1 cup of heavy cream,  1 T. chopped parsley and 3/4 c. of grated mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper.  Pull the pastry from the oven, spread the ham/onion mixture on the pastry, a bunch of fresh spinach leaves, pour the egg mixture over it and top with ½ cup of grated mozzarella and a couple tablespoons of parmesan.  Carefully place back in the hot oven (put a cookie sheet under, just in case it over flows), and bake for 35 minutes.  
Quiche retains heat so you have time to gather the troops or serve martinis after you pull it from the oven.  It’s delicious served warm or cold and keeps for several days in the fridge.  Yes, it seems fattening but it’s filling, nutritious, and economical.  One 10 inch quiche served 6 of us and cost $10 for the ingredients.  If it weren’t for table manners, the men in my house would have arm wrestled for the last piece both nights I served it.

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