Delightfully Forgiving Quiche

Quiche, quiche, how delicious you are. There is something about homemade quiche that really makes my mouth water. What I really enjoy is that I normally have most of the ingredients lying around; no special trip to the store required. Also, whatever vegetables I happen to have in my fridge can usually be incorporated. For this particular quiche I did not add any meat, and it was still very good.

Quiche

• 1 recipe Single Pie Crust (below)
  
• 8 beaten eggs
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
  
• 1/ tsp salt
  
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1 seeded, diced red bell pepper
  
• 1 cup boiled potatoes, chopped into small pieces (I used Yukon Gold)
  
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
  
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar and pepper jack)
  
• 1 tablespoon flour
  
• dash of nutmeg
• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped up (optional)

Prepare and roll out the pastry for the pie pan (or cheat and buy a ready made crust). Work the pastry into the pan and crimp the edges. Line the pastry with two sheets of foil, and bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake 4-5 minutes more until pastry is set.

Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees.

Cook bacon in a large skillet, if using. Remove from heat and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Boil potatoes until slightly tender. Allow to cool slightly and chop into bite-sized pieces. Skin can be left on or removed, as desired (I left it on for the Yukon Golds).

In a large bowl, stir together eggs, sour cream, half-and-half, salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg if you have it on hand. Stir in onions, potatoes and red pepper. Add the flour to your shredded cheese and toss with your hands until it is coated. Add the cheese to the egg mixture and stir to incorporate.

Pour egg mixture into the hot pastry shell. Cover the edge of the crust with foil to prevent it from browning too much. Bake in the 325 degree oven 45 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Pastry for Single Crust Pie

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

4 to 5 tablespoons cold water

Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut shortening in until pieces are pea-sized.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the cold water into the mixture, and toss with a fork. Push the moistened pieces to the sides. Repeat until all the flour mixture is moistened. Form dough into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll Out from center to edges with a rolling pin until about 12 inches in diameter.

To easily transfer to pastry, roll it around the rolling pin and ease into your pie pan. Trim pastry 1/2 in beyond the edge of the pan and fold edges under, crimping with your fingers. 

Quiche is great reheated for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The very forgiving nature of quiche means that you can easily substitute other vegetables or cheeses without worrying about exact measurements. 

Possible alterations/additions:

• 1 - 3 cups spinach (fresh or frozen)
  
• 1/2 chopped onions for the green onion
  
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, feta, Swiss, Havarti or Monterey Jack cheese (yum!)
  
• 3/4 cup ham, chicken or crabmeat for the bacon
  
• light cream or milk for the half-and-half

If you only have bacon, onions, and cheese on-hand, you can still make a really simple and delicious quiche! Feel free to experiment - it's hard to go wrong.