Real men do eat Quiche

If you didn't already know, I co-owned a small Cafe & Bakery in Greenwich for a couple years.  Kelly Brown and I worked at our cafe, The Antique Oven, to get the perfect balance of eggs, milk and half & half for the best texture of quiche. Ours is firm, yet soft and custard like. It should hold its shape well, but not be dry or heavy. 

We had a Quiche of the Day at The Antique Oven and played with a lot of different combinations. I hope you enjoy it as much as our customers did. I use this recipe for catering Ladies events so I also included the amounts for any of you brave souls who like to cook for crowds. 

I cheated today and used a store bought crust. If you buy a crust, make sure to use a good brand as some of the cheaper ones can be tough. Today I made 2 quiche. One with broccoli, ham, co-jack cheese and Parmesan. The other with Parmesan, feta, mozzarella, green peppers, red onion and Garlic & Mozzarella Chicken Sausage (from Sam's Club).

BTW- my husband LOVES quiche!! 

The Antique Oven’s Quiche

1 - 9" pie crust                                      2 - 9" pie crust                         3 - 9" pie crust

4 eggs                                                        8 eggs                                      12 eggs

dash of salt

2/3 cup ½ & ½                                     1 1/3 cup ½ & ½                     2 cups ½ & ½

½ cup milk                                            1 cup milk                               1 ½ cups milk

pinch pepper                                       1/8 tsp pepper                          1/4 tsp pepper, scant

Par bake crust for 6 minutes at 325. (Weight crust with tin foil covered with beans to keep crust from shrinking)

Beat eggs well with a dash of salt to help break them down. Add pepper, ½ & ½ and milk. Beat well. Fill shell with your choice of veggies, meat and cheese. Pour egg mixture over all. Bake at 325 for 45-60 minutes. Check half way through to see if you need to turn pans. Some ovens do not cook evenly and pans must be rotated to get even baking results. Test for doneness by gently shaking pan. If done, center will barely jiggle. If it passes that test, place clean knife in the center. If it comes out clear, quiche is done. If it is still milky looking, it needs to go a bit more. Be careful not to over bake as this makes it dry.

Filling options:

ham, Swiss, green onion

bacon, Swiss, sautéed white onion (classic Quiche Loraine)

sausage, cheddar, steamed broccoli

Italian sausage, chopped fresh spinach, sautéed red onion, green pepper, provolone

crab, onion, blue cheese and Parmesan

The options are endless. Whatever sounds good to you will probably work just fine. 

Sauté  the veggies before adding them to the quiche.

I usually put meat on the bottom, and then added veggies and cheese last.

Note: for groups follow these amounts:

12 Quiche                                                                                                        15 Quiche

4 dozen eggs                                                                                                   5 dozen eggs

2 Qts ½ & ½ (8 cups)                                                                          2 ½ Qts ½ & ½ (10 cups)

6 cups milk                                                                                                      7 ½ cups milk