Justin’s Perfect Quiche – Build-Your-Own

I make quiche once or twice per year, and I don’t have a specific recipe that I follow – I usually google for things like portions, temperature, and cooking time.

This year, I decided to take some notes and provide a general quiche framework that will work for any kind of quiche you want.

The goal is to have 4 cups of eggs, cheese, plus other stuff (filler ingredients) that we pour in to a 9″ pie crust.  Although a 9″ pie crust will hold about 5 cups, the quiche will rise during the cooking process.

One major tweak from “normal” quiche recipes:  Instead of milk, I use sour cream, which has much more fat in it and also significantly improves the flavor.  Because sour cream is more dense, I use bread (chopped up) so that you don’t end up with a 2″ thick egg-crete block.

Equipment:

• 9″ Pie Pan, greased, and a sheet pan to bake it on
• Mixing Bowl (I usually skip the mixing bowl, and just mix the ingredients in the 4-cup measure)
• Whisk
• Cutting board and knife as needed for bread and other “filler” ingredients
• 4 Cup measure
• Sautee pan and wooden spatula – if you use cooked ingredients, the pan and spatula are not needed

Ingredients:

• 9″ Pie Crust
• 2 to 3 slices of bread
• 8 to 12 eggs
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 2 Tbsp of brown mustard
• 1 cup of shredded cheese
• 1 to 2 cups of filler ingredients
• 2 Tbsp of oil or butter to sautee ingredients – if you use cooked ingredients, the oil or butter is not needed
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder to taste.  About 1/2 teaspoon each.

Note:

• For every 4 eggs, use 1 slice of bread and about 1/4 cup of sour cream.
• If you have more filler ingredients, use fewer eggs – minimum of about 8.  If you have fewer filler ingredients, you’ll need more eggs, and thus more bread and more sour cream.
• Makes at least 8 portions
• About 20 minutes prep time, and about 1 hour 30 minutes cook time, which includes 15 minutes of resting time, or about 1 hour 50 minutes total.

Preparation:

1. For any raw filler ingredients, cut them in to small slices or bite-sized pieces, and sautee them in the sautee pan until tender.  They don’t need to be cooked to annihilation, just cooked to the point of tender.  Let them cool.
2. For any ingredients that are already cooked, such as ham, bacon, or other leftover meat, cut them in to small bite-sized pieces.
3. Preheat oven to 375.
4. Grease the pie pan and lay out the pie crust, crimping or folding the edges as you would with any other kind of pie.

Cooking:

1. Cut the crusts off the bread, and cut the bread in to small cubes.
2. Add the following in to the mixing bowl, then whisk until the eggs are fluffy:
   • Eggs – at least 8
   • Sour cream – at least 1/2 cup
   • Brown mustard
   • Salt, pepper, and optionally, garlic powder and onion powder.
3. Add the following in to the mixing bowl, then stir
   • Bread (cubed, with crusts removed)
   • Shredded Cheese (about 1 cup)
   • Filler ingredients (Pre-cooked and cut in to bite-sized pieces)
4. Pour all of this in to a 4 cup measure.  At this point, in the mixing bowl, mix up some additional eggs if needed.  If you have 3 cups of stuff, you need to add about 4 eggs.  If you have 3-1/2 cups, you need to add about 2 eggs, etc…
5. At the point where you have 4 full cups of eggs + other stuff mixed and sitting in the 4-cup measure, carefully pour all of it in to the center of the pie crust.
6. Place the (now-filled) pie pan on top of the sheet pan (in case it spills over), and place both in the pre-heated oven.
7. Bake for 375 for up to 75 minutes.  Check the center at about 50 or 60 minutes, and monitor closely until the entire thing is solid.  It will rise about 1/2″ to 1″ during the baking process.
8. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 15 minutes.
9. Cut in to slices and serve.