Quiche- Any way you like it!

Quiche.... such a simple thing, but so badly maligned over the years.

The thing I like about quiche is... it's good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizer, make ahead meal, it's a good traveler and it tastes good!  It's highly customizable too.... don't like ham? Leave it out.  Don't like gruyere or Swiss cheese (not my favorite....) leave it out.  Need to use up some bits and bobs of cheese, use them in quiche.

I'm going back on my opinion on pre-made Pillsbury pie crusts for this one.
It makes it so, so easy.
Unless you really, really want to make your own, just go ahead and use the pre-made one for this. You have my permission... hahaha.

For years, my quiche wasn't the greatest, the crust was soggy, the eggs too hard and spongy... just not my best thing.  So on New Year's eve, we had an uncertain amount of people attending a party and I was a bit worried about having too much food.  So i searched for some recipes, and found a five star rated recipe from Emeril.  Okay.... I tried.  Oh yeah... it's the one.  I believe an important component is prebaking the crust (who knew?) and using some half n' half with your eggs.  It came together within 15 minutes, and then baked for another 35 minutes.  Everyone loved it. It was good I've made in three times in a week.  You'll feel pretty tricky bringing homemade quiche for your breakfast (or lunch) at work... I know I did.  Yum, oh yum.

Makes one 8-9" quiche, serving about 6-8
Ingredients:

1 pie crust
2 eggs
2 egg yolks (save the whites for scrambled eggs)
1 1/4 cups half and half (or milk & whip cream)
2-3 pieces bacon
1/3 cup white onions, diced small
1 cup cheese
Fresh Pepper and Salt* (if needed)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake until the crust is set, 12 to 15 minutes until mostly golden brown and getting crisp. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

While your crust is baking…

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add the onions and saute for 4-5 minutes until soft and getting some color.  Drain onions and discard any leftover fat.

Arrange the bacon and onions evenly over the bottom of the baked crust.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, yolks, and half and half. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Add any other ingredients you are adding, plus the cheese and top with the beaten egg & cream mixture.

Pour into the prepared crust and bake until the custard is golden, puffed, and set yet still slightly wiggly in the center, 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

 
* I didn't add any salt because I used a combo of bacon and ham in my first quiche which was salty enough, especially when combined with cheese.

Here's some ideas for making your quiche great... just add the quantity that seems good to you. That could be as little as 2 Tbsp and as much as a cup.  Don't over think it.

• Diced ham
• Diced red bell pepper
• Cooked chicken
• Green Chilies
• Chopped broccoli
• Taco meat
• Zucchini slices
• Sauteed Mushrooms
• What else can you think of?