Yesterday I collected 9 eggs from the Big Barn girls. When there’s an abundance of eggs, it’s Quiche Season. Quiche is simply a savory egg custard. It’s very forgiving. Know the proportions, use your good eggs, and it will come out right.
I prefer to use a clear glass Pyrex pie plate for the quiche, because it browns the crust just right. But, that’s a quibble. In any event, prebake a pie crust. (A recipe will be in my upcoming egg cookbook, but for now use this one as it is close to mine.)
Quiche is all about the proportions. 4 large eggs, 1 1/2 cups of milk or cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, and 1/2 cup of add-ins. A pinch of salt brings out the flavor. Fresh herbs are a nice touch. In the photo below, I used whole milk, cheddar cheese and some Parmesan, and sautéed red onions and sweet red bell peppers. Fresh parsley was tossed on top.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 35 to 40 minutes until set. That’s it!
Have you made quiche lately, and what was in it?
Looks yummy!! Nothing beats a meal made with farm fresh eggs. ;)
Had 4 quiches for my sister’s birthday. One was a vegetable quiche with asparagus, onion, peppers, zucchini, and carrots all steamed a little first. A quiche Lorraine, sausage quiche, (for the men) and a wonderful chicken quiche with a pecan cheese crust. She didn’t care about the others, she requested the vegetable one. Quiche is fabulous.
A pecan/cheese crust sounds intriguing!
Basic cheddar, pecan, flour and butter mixture, paprika, too. Like cheese crackers for soup. It was yummy!
Sat here a few moments, trying to comment, but my mouth started watering thinking about your post, reading the comments! What a delicious distraction… Mercy! When eggs and spring veggies are plentiful, I turn to quiches, too. I make a quiche with sautéed leeks, fresh spinach, and a variety of cheeses.
http://www.chickenblog.com/2012/03/garden-to-kitchen.html
I haven’t made quiche before, but I do cook everyday. Yours looks divine and quiche is what will be for breakfast come Sunday. Please sign me up for your upcoming cookbook. Can’t wait!
We like ours just like you made except if I’m having it for lunch I might add a little hot pepper to spice it up. When you get a lot of eggs do you ever make pickled red beets and eggs? They are a favorite all summer long.
A recipe is in the upcoming book.
Hi Terry
My name is Kelly. I too keep backyard chickens. I wanted to let you know that I linked your blog post on “Brown, Green, Blue, White: Chicken Egg Color – The Real Story” onto my blog. I actually have a Buff Orpington who apparently didn’t get the memo on the science behind the color of eggs! I would love for you to check out my egg color post and I’m very interested in getting some feedback from you!!! I am baffled and amazed at the same time by what my girl did.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
Kelly
Our Country Chronicles
I have a hen that does that, too. You’re right to observe that it’s one hen. Each chicken has a distinctive egg, and in that case she starts laying down the pigment early in the process, and then runs out so that the outside of the egg is pale. You’ll also notice that the eggshell is rougher than the others. Goes along with that laying glitch. Of course, inside, the egg is still edible and delicious.
Yes Terry! I have noticed that her eggs are rougher. And they indeed are always lighter. Well! Thank you for that bit of insight! It makes perfect sense. I’ll have to update my blog with another post about that. Have a great day! ✿◠‿◠
Never made it but have ate it. Ive been dreaming of my very own first egg. What will I do with it, dreaming away. Your crust is so pretty,now im hungry!
Wish we had smell-a-vision!
I love quiche but have never been too successful at making it. Look forward to seeing your cookbook!
How exciting to be writing your own egg cookbook! As I only have bantam sized hens, I am just wondering if you will be putting in ingredient options for large eggs as well as bantam eggs? It would be terrific to have a cookbook that referred especially to the size and amount of eggs to be used.
Also celsius as well as fahrenheit as this is the one reason I don’t buy american cook books?
Best wishes on your project!
I weigh my odd eggs and use 2 ounces per egg as the standard. The trick with bantam eggs is that they have a higher percentage of yolk, so be careful with cakes and such where that matters. You might want to add a couple of whites into a recipe that calls for a lot of eggs, like pound cake.
Sorry about the F and C degrees! There are easy charts on the web, but agree it’s a pain to convert.
The pastry case is in the oven as I type. I have made the “add-ons” – but way more than half a cup I’m afraid as we are VERY greedy – today we are having smoked haddock (flaked) and broccoli. Yum. Thanks for the blog tips on making the pastry. Mine has been successful since I started making it your way!
Oh, you could add a full cup if you want to, especially if smoked haddock (or bacon!) is involved.
Real men eat…everything! Last quiche I made was a traditional Quiche Lorraine. One before that I sauteed some asparagus tips and added those. Yesterday, one of our hens laid an egg weighing 4.15 ounces! For comparison, an egg is classified as jumbo at 2.5 ounces.
That is a ginormous egg!!
Terry..How do you make such a pretty crust?
Light handling and practice.
Our last one had broccoli, onions and cheddar cheese. Tonight I’ll add mushrooms. They are way easier to make than I had expected. It’s also a good way to get the child to eat veggies! Love quiche.
Thanks for your proportions! I have been using a Jacques Pepin recipe with mixed results. Takes longer to set. And at a higher temp. Sometimes I use Half and Half but certainly whole milk at the least. I tried skim and the joy of quiche just wasn’t there.
I do wish I could master crusts. If I could master crusts, I would be king of the world!
George Mcrae
The classic French quiche rely on very heavy cream to set. Mine is eggier and can use whole, or even lowfat milk.
I make frittatas ALL the time. Basically a quiche w/ out the crust.
I fry up a few slices of bacon. Set the bacon aside and saute onions and potato in the bacon fat. When the veggies are cooked, I’ll pour in scrambled eggs with grated cheese. I’ll use as many as 18 eggs but my Andalusian’s lay small eggs. And I’ll toss about half the yolks because we’re watching our cholesterol. Salt and pepper area must and paprika, chili powder, Tabasco are great add-ins. And then crumble the bacon back on top.
Good served warm or cold. We’ll eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Great way to use up some eggs.
Frittatas are good too, but a different texture. Denser, less dairy. More add-ins. Longer cooking time, and can be started on the stove-top, so more heat to the exterior. Can you tell I’m fussy about my eggs? :) BTW, onions sauteed in good bacon grease (bacon from pastured pigs) – exceptionally good!
Yes, agreed. It is a different texture. I just love how easy they are to whip up. And hubby loves it. There are very few things he’ll eat twice in a week and my frittata is one.
And there is a place in the Eastern Sierra’s that raises pigs and makes their own bacon. OMG, anyone who thinks bacon is bacon hasn’t had bacon from Mahogany Smoked Meats.
Mushroom, onions, bacon and broccoli. Yum.