Cooking Lesson #398: Classic Quiche Lorraine

… from the California Kitchen

How you doin’? Ahhh, Quiche Lorraine—This specialty comes from the Lorraine region of France, a part of the world that claims some of my favorite culinary specialties.
 
Alsace and Lorraine hug the border between France and Germany, so that makes Alsace and Lorraine both French and German, and also their own unique places within both countries. I will save the most famous Alsatian tarte—Tarte Flambée—for a separate article, the most ubiquitous dish from Lorraine is Quiche. And the specialty quiche from Lorraine features gruyere cheese, sautéed onion, fatty bacon (French lardons) and nutmeg as its primary flavors.
 
The history of quiche, a dish we think of as quintessentially French, is actually a liminal one, in that the dish is of German origin. The word 'quiche' comes from the German word kuchen, meaning cake. Thus quiche is a savory cake, and Lorraine is a rather new name for a region that, under Germanic rule, was called the Kingdom of Lothringen. There are 13th century recipes for egg and cream baked in a dough crust in Italy, so it is difficult to say exactly where such a simple and pervasive approach to baking first began. In the 14th century English recipe collection, The Forme of Cury, there is a recipe like this with the unappetizing name 'Crustardes of flesh'.
 
The oldest recipes for quiche Lorraine were simply an open-faced pie (that is, crust on the bottom and sides only), filled with a mixture of egg and cream and chopped bacon. The dough was simply bread dough, but in the 20th century this evolved into the more sophisticated puff pastry crust.
 
Let me make this crystal clear, a proper quiche should be rich, custardy and luxurious, not some baked omelet in a pie shell. Making a quiche is surprisingly easy with bacon, leeks, and Gruyere cheese. Here are some tips on making that perfect quiche every single time.

• If  adding onions, leeks or other chopped vegetables, quickly sauté them first.
• Prepare a deep-dish pie pan (or loose-bottom tart pan) with pie dough for a single crust. The crust will have to be blind baked before pouring in the filling.
• To blind bake the crust, line your crust with aluminum foil or parchment paper, shaping it so it fits the crust, all the way to the edges. To weigh down the foil, fill the foil with dried beans or pie weights, spreading them across the bottom and partly up the sides of the crust. The weight helps hold the crust's shape.
• Bake the crust in a preheated 425⁰ F oven for 7 to 10 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and the weights.
• Return the crust to the oven for another 5 minutes.
• Lower the temperature to 325⁰ F.
• When making the custard filling use three whole eggs plus two extra egg yolks.
• Whisk together the eggs with cream and milk until well mixed.
• Layer the particulate into the crust by laying down two-thirds of the sautéed veggies and two-thirds of the cheese. Carefully spoon in the creamy egg mixture. Top with the remainder of your fillings.
• Place the pie crust on a sheet pan and place in a 325⁰ F oven until the egg mixture sets, about 40 minutes. You want it to just set, but still a little jiggly.
• Let your quiche cool before slicing and serving.

 
Here is the perfect Quiche Lorraine recipe for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or just an indulgent snack! Bacon, Gruyere  cheese and onions mingle in perfect harmony amidst the eggs and cream in this timeless custardy classic.
 
Prep time:  15 minutes
Bake time:  55 minutes
Cool time:  10 minutes
Total:  80 mins
Yield:  1 9-inch pie / 5 to 6 servings
 
Ingredients 
1 (9 inch) prepared pie crust (homemade or store bought)
12 thick slices bacon, chopped
1/3 cup caramelized minced onion
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
3 whole large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks, beaten
2 cups light cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (topping)
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425⁰ F.
2. Place bacon and onion in a large skillet and sauté over medium-high heat until the bacon is crisp and the onions lightly caramelized.
3. Drain on paper towels.
4. Sprinkle 2/3 of the bacon, cheese and onion into pastry shell.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper to form a custard.
6. Pour the custard mixture into the blind-baked pastry shell.
7. Top the custard with the remaining bacon, onions and cheese.
8. Lightly shake on the nutmeg.
9. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 300⁰ F and bake an additional 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean.
10. Never cut and serve the quiche directly out of the oven. Allow the quiche to rest for 10 minutes or so before cutting into wedges.

ChefSecret: Use my secrets to make the perfect quiche.

• Bake the quiche ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to reheat and serve.
• Make use of leftovers for a cost-cutter quiche. It’s a great way to use up leftover meat and vegetables.
• Make individual quiches using a muffin tin or mini tart shells. The baking temperature will be the same, though baking time will vary—just keep an eye on them to be sure they don't burn.

Quip of the Day: “Never in my whole life could I have imagined that on given day my hands would consume more alcohol than my mouth.”
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