Come On Baby, Give Me a Quiche

Growing up, I had a mixed relationship with quiche. The egg flavor was always so heavy that it overpowered any filling that was used. Even when I made it, I still had to choke it down knowing that I'd have a reward at the end (the crust, of course! Isn't that the best reason to eat any sort of pie?)

Then I learned how to properly whisk an egg. When most people make eggs, they barely mix the yolk and albumin (white) together and add it to the pan. Generally this results in dense, incredibly "eggy" eggs.

When 'scrambling' eggs, use a bowl big enough where you're not going to be afraid of overspill. Use a wire whisk and actually use the whisk to get air into the eggs. One tip is to tilt the bowl with one hand which will pool, or concentrate, the eggs into one 'corner' of the bowl. As you mix, gently lift the eggs. You know the cliche, "it's all in the wrist?" Well, it's wrong. It's actually all in the elbow.

That said, I just made a Kitchen Sink quiche chock full of leftover ingredients from my refrigerator. Here's how it went down.

I do take a little help with my quiche from Whole Foods - I buy an organic, frozen, deep dish pie crust. It's buttery, browns nicely and has a touch of sweetness that balances any savory ingredient I find to put into the pie.

I started with 4 slices of high quality, center cut bacon. To move things along, I cut it into 1/2" lardons before adding to a dry, cold pan. Over medium-high heat, the bacon cooked until brown. Removing the bacon with metal tongs, I let it cool while draining on paper towels.

Letting the bacon grease cool for about 10 minutes, I poured the grease into a glass jar to save for a later recipe.

In the same pan, I sauteed about 6 oz of sliced button mushrooms in the remainder of the bacon grease. I'd also dug up some fresh rosemary that was at the end of its life, which was chopped finely and added to the mushrooms (seasoned with salt and pepper.) Once the mushrooms were removed from the pan, the 10oz of baby spinach was added to the same pan in about 1 Tbs of olive oil. Once the spinach was sufficiently wilted and seasoned with salt and pepper, it was added to the mushrooms to let cool.

Once it was cool enough to touch, I gently squeezed the excess liquid from the mushrooms and spinach.

To the dry empty pie shell, the browned, cooled bacon was added. Then I sprinkled the mushroom, rosemary and spinach mixture over the bacon.

Earlier today I bought an intriguing cheese - a smoked, baked sheep's milk ricotta cheese. Delicious to nibble on but I thought it would enhance the smokiness of the bacon. About 1 oz was added to the pie shell (notice no egg has been added yet.)

Next I added a few handfuls of some shredded cheese that was in the refrigerator cheese drawer - an Italian mixture that includes Parmesan, mozzarella and Asiago.

Over the top of the mixture, I added 5 well beaten eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper. Do not mix. My secret? Once the egg is added, I gently pour about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of skim milk into the egg. Still do not mix.

Add another scant handful of cheese.

Place the pie on a large baking sheet in case there's any overspill.

Bake ~30 minutes at 350 degrees or until it puffs up (think souffle) and the center doesn't jiggle when the pan is gently shaken.

I must say, I wanted to quiche this supper.