How I Learned to Love the Quiche

We had lots of lovely house-guests this long-weekend (and as one of my friends at work said, shouldn't long-weekends happen more often? Like at least once a month?): a few of of my favorite people from the Brooklyn-borough, my cousins, one bouncy baby, some crazy kids, and a chihuahua. So I enjoyed the excuse to make a slew of classic, old school, comfort food dishes like chocolate chip cookies, lasagna with sweet sausage, and tomato chickpea soup to feed whomever dropped by.

On Sunday I had a little down time between visitors--there was an icy cold rain coming down, nothing pressing to do, I was still craving eggs, so I decided to find out if I could create the perfect quiche. Now I never used to care for quiche because typically they were bland or watery and I thought, what's the point of this? It seemed like a dish best relegated to the early 80's, along with perms and Reganomics. But then I had some amazing quiche when I was in Paris last May, and I fell in love with the possibilities of combining eggs, cream, veggies, and cheese, all in a lovely crust package.

I decided to make a leek and cheddar quiche. But first, the cheat: Although I was at my leisure I wasn't in the mood to make a crust. I have made savory tart crusts before, but it's not my strong point. So instead I pulled out an old-reliable Pillsbury crust. I let it get to room temperature and then unrolled in into a glass, deep-dish, pie plate. I then pricked it all over with a fork to prevent bubbling and put it in the preheated oven at 450 until it was a light golden brown (about 10 minutes).

Meanwhile I prepared the leeks: I decided to cook them Thomas Keller style (the way he prepares them for his leek bread pudding in ad hoc: at home): I sliced just the white and light green parts of four small leeks into 1/2 inch rings, washed well in a bowl of cold water, placed into a saute pan at medium heat, cooked until starting to get soft (like 5 minutes) and then added 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, whisking it in gently so that the leeks look emulsified. I then partially covered with a lid and let the leeks cook over medium-low heat until very soft, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. When they look soft and silky, remove the leeks to a plate and let cool a bit.

When the crust was done I took it out to cool, lowered the oven temp to 325, and started preparing the filling:
You can alter the proportion of milk to cream, or milk to half-and-half as you see fit, but I used 2/3 cup of heavy cream and 1/3 cup of lowfat milk, combined with 4 eggs, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of black pepper, and 1/2 tsp of freshly ground nutmeg. Whisked this all together and then added a cup and a half of aged-cheddar (I like the Grafton Village, Vermont 2yr old cheddar) or most of an 80z block, saving the last ounce or so to sprinkle on the top.

Lastly stir the leeks into the eggy mixture.

Once everything is combined pour the filling into the crust, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and then place the quiche in the oven. Bake until the eggs look set and there is a nice golden exterior, about 40 minutes. When ready, take out and let sit for about 15 minutes or so before serving. You can also sprinkle with some finely chopped parsley, if you'd like.

The quiche made a lovely winter lunch, with a side of sliced prosciutto and a salad drizzled with a mustard vinaigrette. The leeks and the cheddar are an amazing combination, if I do say so myself, it's just key to cook the leeks first, when they are melty with butter and heat they bring an immense amount of flavor. I like to keep the filling ingredients simple but feel free to be creative.—Caroline