I have a thing, with quiche. It’s not just that I think quiche is good, although it is, it’s that quiche happens to be one of my top comfort foods. I’m not really sure why, because I don’t think my father ever made quiche when I was a kid; he was more of a timbale kind of guy. But, at some point, quiche became equal to comfort, and I happened to make a quiche yesterday, and I’m eating a cold slice right now with a wedge of lemon and some Tabasco (the only way to eat quiche, really), so I decided to write about quiche.

I like the process of making quiche. It’s messy, by nature, and I’m a control freak, so I kind of enjoy forcing myself to just let go, let flour and eggs pile up on the counters, and make something awesome. Of course, as soon as the quiche goes into the oven, I make the mess go away, but it’s strangely exhilarating when the kitchen is all messy with quicheness. Sort of like crossing the street when the light is red (I did that yesterday too), living dangerously, you know?

Anyway, one of the cool things about quiche is that you can put pretty much anything in there. The quiche I made yesterday happened to be mushroom and potato, but it could have just as easily been purple cauliflower and sweet onion, or beet greens and bacon, or zucchini and squid. I mean, you never know, is what I am trying to say. Quiche is a world of possibilities.

I also appreciate that it can be eaten hot or cold. I actually made this particular quiche with the explicit plan of eating cold quiche over the weekend, since it’s supposed to warm up, but, as always, I ate a big chunk of it, hot and steaming, before I could stop myself. Once, I ate half a quiche at one sitting, and then rolled around on the floor groaning for half an hour before I could move again.

It was awesome.

Quiche is also a superb vehicle for eggs, a food I happen to not really enjoy in a pure state. Yet, somehow, quiche performs some sort of alchemy, allowing me to consume something with eggs in it without feeling violently disgusted. When I was vegan, I used to make quiche with tofu, and it was pretty damn good, too.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with all this quiche musing, so I’ll cut to the chase: here’s my quiche recipe. Go forth and bake!

Crust:

3/4 cup flour

5 1/2 tablespoons butter

1/6 cup cold water, blended with a dash of salt and a dash of sugar

Cream the butter into the flour, add the water, and mash around so that the ingredients pull together into a dough. Don’t overwork the dough. In fact, why don’t you put it in the fridge, so that you won’t be tempted to mess with it? Pie dough doesn’t like to be messed with. Just…let it chill, ok?

In a large pan, saute:

Something which will go into your quiche

I generally use a whole yellow onion in all my quiches, and then add whatever sliced/diced ingredients I’m using. I don’t really measure stuff, it’s more of a sensation by feel kind of thing. I should have measured yesterday. Oh well. Throw in some spices if you feel like it, or not, whatever. Then set the stuff aside to cool.

Roll out your pie dough and get it set up in an oiled and floured pie pan while you mix the filling, so you can dump and bake. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 for my Celsius cousins, 450 kelvin for the physicists among us).

In a large bowl, beat together four eggs, and then add a cup of milk. Sprinkle in some salt, pepper, and nutmeg (don’t ask, and yes, it is important. Trust me.) Then add 2/3 cup of delicious, delicious bread crumbs, and beat again. Add in another half cup of cheese of choice (I actually just grate right over the bowl until it looks good, but a half cup sounds right). Then mix in your veggies, pour the mess into the pie pan, and let her rip.

It usually takes around 40 minutes, or until an inserted knife/toothpick/cake tester comes out clean. If you can possibly bear to wait, let the quiche cool for awhile on a rack before slicing. Once completely cooled, said quiche can be refrigerated, covered. (By the way, if anyone wants to get me one of those bad-ass lock together pie plate things, let me know. Do those even exist? Because they should. Pie and quiche need protecting from the forces of evil in the world.)