5: Ham & Cheddar Quiche

 

A tale of two quiches! 

This past weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying my husband's parents' lake house with friends.  It's about three hours from home, so at first it seemed daunting to leave on a Friday night and return on a Sunday afternoon, but once I tried it, I WAS HOOKED!  There's just something about two straight days of having nowhere to be, nothing to do, no cell phone service, and no view of dirty laundry, clutter, broken things, or other lurking chores.  All that peace and relaxation makes one hour feel like three.  And c'mon... Get a load of this view!

It's so completely amazing and wonderful there, that I have subscribed to the "let's take food that is easy to make so we can spend as much time as possible sitting around drinking beer" way of thinking.  Hence, the quiches.  I have all the eggs I could want, so making a couple of these egg pies was very inexpensive and easy to do the night before we left.  It was a work-night, so I cut a few corners.  Some of the quiches I make for this blog will be of the more detailed variety, but the way I see it, people need just as many fast and convenient ideas as they need fancy home-made crusts.

The two quiches I made were a simple Ham & Cheddar, and what I like to call a "Mediterranean" quiche with mushrooms, spinach, roasted red peppers and feta.  Today, I'm covering the Ham & Cheddar, which you probably surmised from the blog post title.  You're so smart.

What you'll need (for the fast and dirty version that I made):

• Store-bought pie crust
• Pie pan
• 6 eggs
• Milk or cream
• Shredded cheddar cheese (Sharp!)
• 2-3 packages of thin-sliced ham

I'd like to say a few words about these ingredients... For one thing, I'm absolutely always in favor of doing things from scratch.  I actually quite enjoy making pie crust.  However, the store-bought kind tastes pretty good for a bottom crust (not as good as a top crust) and I don't think anyone who operates in extremes all the time has a balanced perspective.  I work a LOT and so does my husband, which leaves us without a whole lot of free time.  My house is a mess and sometimes I have to pay waaaay too much for a small bag of cat food at a drug store on the way home from work because I just can't find the motivation to go all the way to the pet store.  For these reasons, you will see some recipes on this blog that are fancy, with home-made hollandaise sauce, and other recipes that feature a slice of fat-free American cheese.  I'd like to think this makes me relatable rather than lazy, but ultimately it's your call.  Also, I've already mentioned Applegate as my regular source of meats that are unavailable from my husband's family's farm.  You'll see them a ton throughout this blog, so I'll always be sure to link up to their site, but I'm not going to continue hopping on my carnivore soap-box.  Lastly, cheddar cheese... I am of the opinion that if you're going to have cheddar cheese in anything, it really ought to be "sharp" cheddar.  I recognize that this is my personal preference, however, if you're going to read my blog, you will be subject to my tastes.  I love stronger flavors and I think that "sharp" cheddar is just as creamy as "mild" but with more tangy, saltiness.  I can pretty much guarantee that you will never see "milk" cheddar anywhere near this blog.  [end ingredient-related, rambling explanation]

The first step was to roll the pie crust out and press it into my pie pan.  Easy-peasy.  After that, I sprinkle a generous handful of shredded cheddar in the bottom.  I usually like to have a layer of cheese in the bottom of quiches because it makes a nice tasty crust/cheese layer.

The next part is kind of ridiculous, but I did it anyway.  I'm a big "presentation" person when it comes to food.  I guess it's the visual artist in me... the one who hasn't made art since college and is starved for artistic expression.  It makes me do weird, unnecessary things with food.  In this case, I chose to take the ham slices and roll them into little meaty rosette tubes.  I did half of them plain, and half of them I filled with some of the cheese.  I cut them in half and lined the edge of the pie crust, then filled in the middle.

It's like a big, salty, delicious flower!

Add more cheese!

Next up, comes the star of the show... EGGS!  Beautiful, gorgeous, richly colored, same-day fresh EGGS!  You'll see a dozen eggs in the pictures, but that's because I was making two quiches.  To be honest, I rarely treat quiches like an exact science.  The number of eggs I need usually depends on how many filling items I put it it and if I want something light and fluffy, or something more dense and hearty.


Fresh, beautiful eggs. This is actually
more than a dozen, but a few of them
are from my bantam hens, so they're
more like half an egg each.

Next, I added about 1 cup of 1% milk.
Again, this was for a dozen eggs and two
full quiches. Six eggs would need less milk.

 
Without a doubt, the best way to go is to use whole milk or cream.  However, it is usually more convenient to use what is already in the fridge.  Also, the ratio of milk/cream to eggs impacts consistency of the quiche.  The more milk you add, the more vigorously you need to beat the mixture, and it produces a lighter quiche.  If you skip the milk or use a very small portion, you end up with something of a more "frittata"density.  Which is good sometimes - especially with heavy fillings.  For this quiche, I believe I used about a cup of milk to the dozen eggs.

 How jealous are you of my gorgeous KitchenAid mixer??  It was a wedding present from one of my culinarily-inclined Aunts and I LURVE IT!  It was a limited edition "Martha Stewart" version that matched all my fab turquoise Fiesta ware.  To be perfectly honest, I was rather intimidated by this appliance for a while.  However, once I started using it - I NEVER STOPPED.  I mean, it wouldn't be hard to beat some eggs and milk, right?  However, if I throw it all in the mixer and use the whisk attachment, I can turn it on, walk away to do something else for a couple minutes (such as pre-heat the oven to 300), and when I return the eggs and milk are all frothy and perfect.  They're pricey, but they're fantastic!

Pour the eggs over the ham.  Don't over-fill
because the eggs rise quite a bit.  I actually
over-did it a little bit and there was some
egg spillage in my oven... :-/

ADD MORE CHEESE!  I like a generous
layer of cheese on the top of quiche as
much as lot a layer on the bottom.

I wish I could tell you exactly how long I keep these things in the oven, but it varies widely on the ingredients and on your personal preference.  I'd say that a good rule of thumb is to plan for at least an hour.  This one was probably in for closer to an hour and twenty minutes or so.  I basically start checking on it after an hour and wait for it to start getting a little brown on top, and for the exposed ham to look dark and crispy.  If you like your ham to be softer, then I would be sure to wrap some foil around the edges.

You can serve it hot, out of the oven.  I'm almost always making these ahead of time for something, so I let it cool on the counter, cover it with foil and toss it in the fridge.  You can can a week or more of breakfasts out of one of these babies.  Just cut a slice and nuke it.  Or, if you're serving it at a brunch or similar situation, leave the foil on and put it in the oven at a low setting (250) for an hour.

*NOM*  *NOM*  *NOM*

See you next time for the second half of our very quichey tale.

Love & Eggs,

Laura

These eggs brought to you by...
pretty much my entire flock! 

You go, girls!