Country Quiche Recipe 465

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Roll out the pie dough on a floured surface. Gently lay it in a deep-dish pie pan and press it into the grooves of the pan. Cut off the excess. Set aside.
• Chop up the bacon into bite-sized pieces.
• Fry the onions in the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat until deep golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mix the eggs, cream and some salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Add the bacon, onions and cheese and stir to combine.
• Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Cover lightly with aluminium foil, place on a sheet pan and bake for 45 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake until the quiche is set and the crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes more.
• Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Fit for a king or a cowboy.
• Lightly mix 2 cups of the flour with the salt and sugar in a mixing bowl or a food processor. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or by pulsing the food processor. (The mixture should look like large crumbs and begin to cling together in clumps.)
• Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour and mix lightly or pulse two or three times so as not to overmix the flour. Tip into a bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cold water over the dough and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until the dough holds together. Shape the dough into two discs.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to use. It can also be frozen for up to 6 months.

Steps:

• Of all the savory pastries in the French canon, from flaky croissants to cheese-laden gougères, tarts are the ones that are made at home just as frequently as they are ordered in restaurants and picked up at takeout shops. You'll find tarts served as a starter for dinner, as the focal point of a light lunch or as a main course at weekend brunch. They come in many styles, with much regional variation. Of all the classics, the elegant quiche is the best known. In its most traditional form, a quiche is composed of a buttery short-crust pastry shell holding a silky egg custard and a savory filling. And although the quiche has gone international, charming its way into North American and British culture, the French are the ones who innovated and then perfected the recipe, particularly the rich, buttery dough called pâte brisée. Once you master this dough, you will find that quiche becomes dead simple to make. And you can do so with ingredients you may already have: eggs and cream. The French treat tarts and quiches as an economical way to use meat or vegetables that are lying around, combining odds and ends into a harmonious result. You will find countless variations in fillings - salmon quiches, eggplant tarts.But it is the modest onion that often stars in a French tart. Onions are mainstays in French cuisine, flavoring meats and sauces, and soups and stews. But they fare just as well, if not better, on their own, as the main attraction.Cooked slowly in butter until satiny and soft, onions add flavor and texture to the custard of a classic quiche. Sweet caramelized onions are mixed with anchovies to top the Provençal tart called pissaladière. And minced onions are combined with bacon and fromage blanc (a soft, yogurtlike cheese), then baked pizza-style at high heat, to make a tangy, crunchy tarte flambée, popular in Alsace and the surrounding area. Each tart highlights onions in a different way, and they're all worth taking the time to get to know.
• Savory open-faced tarts are derived from pies, which were known to have been baked in ancient Egypt and Rome, though the tradition most likely goes back much further. In those early pies, the crust was merely a vessel for containing the fillings while they slowly baked. The whole pie wasn't meant to be eaten - just its contents, which could be as simple as ground meat and potatoes, or as elaborate as scores of roasted quail, pheasants, peacocks and even whole, stuffed lambs. (Those 4 and 20 blackbirds of nursery rhymes were not that far-fetched.) Across Europe, there were gigantic, ceremonial pies for special occasions, and small, plainer pies meant to be eaten cold, with the pastry standing in for a napkin to catch the juices. Since pie pastry was not meant to be consumed, it tended to be coarse and unappetizing, though when it was soaked in meat juices after baking, it became palatable enough for the servants. There was even a trade in selling leftover pastry to the poor, who gathered outside castles and estates to wait for crusts to gnaw on. Open-faced tarts were a Medieval innovation, dating roughly to the 14th century. These new tarts could be made savory or sweet (or sometimes both, in the best Medieval tradition), and they were baked with a more delicate pastry that was meant to be delicious. In France, tarts made with the dough known as pâte brisée were cataloged in La Varenne's "Le Patissier François" (1653), the first cookbook to codify French pastry arts and much of grand cuisine. The egg and bacon tart we know today as quiche Lorraine originated in the area of the same name, in northeast France, a region whose culture and cuisine were highly influenced by neighboring Germany. (Quiche itself was most likely derived from German kuchen; that may also be the source of its name.) It dates to the early 19th century, though its myriad variations, including quiche aux oignons, did not become popular around France until the early 20th century. Then there is tarte flambée (also known as flammekueche), the yeasted tart made with onion, bacon and fromage blanc, which hails from neighboring Alsace. And the south of France is home to yet another famous onion tart: pissaladière, a thin, square, pizzalike dish topped with onions, anchovies, olives and herbs. Its name comes from pissala, an anchovy and sardine purée made from locally caught and salted fish - a briny regional flavor that shines alongside the sweetness of the onions. Above, "Still Life With a Pie" by Clara Peeters.
• Quiche or tart pan It's best to use a 9-inch metal pan with a removable bottom. While you can use a glass or ceramic quiche pan, you won't be able to remove the quiche from the pan before serving. It's also smart to place the pan on a baking sheet before it goes into the oven. This helps distribute the heat, which cooks the quiche evenly, and it eliminates the chance the pan will leak in your oven.Food processor Dough comes together quickly in a food processor, but take care not to overprocess it. A pastry cutter is inexpensive and works well, too; some people prefer it because using one makes it much harder to overwork the dough. If you don't have either, use your fingers to work the butter into the dough. Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has a guide to the best food processors.Rolling pin French rolling pins tend to be made of one solid, smooth piece of wood, and often have tapered ends. But you can use any kind of rolling pin you've got - or even a wine bottle in a pinch.Pie weights Empty tart crusts are often prebaked (a process known as blind baking) before they are filled and returned to the oven to finish. This gives you a browned crust that won't get soggy. Weights keep the dough from shrinking as it bakes. If you don't have them, use rice, dried beans or pennies (rinse in soapy water and dry them first).
• Sweet bits of onion suffuse this tart, which gets its brawny, salty tang from browned chunks of cured pork (lardons, pancetta or bacon). Both delicate and rich, it makes a lovely lunch or brunch dish, one best served warm or at room temperature on the day you baked it.
• The secrets to a successful onion quiche: a flaky butter crust and perfectly pale, tender onions in the custard filling. • High-fat European-style butter produces the flakiest crust. If you can find it, it's worth the extra cost. • Always make sure that the butter is cold when you start, and that the dough stays cold as you work with it. If it starts to soften at any time, put it in the refrigerator to firm up. • When you cut the butter into the flour, either by hand or by using the food processor, you want lima-bean-size pieces of butter. These big pieces of butter will make the dough flaky; as they melt in the oven, they release steam, which creates air pockets. These air pockets are the flakes that make a light and crisp crust. (This is also why you want to keep the butter cold as you work with the dough. It ensures that the butter won't melt into the flour as you blend it, but will stay in distinct pieces.) • As you roll the dough, keep it moving around on your countertop, flipping it over and adding more flour if it starts to stick. By flipping and moving it around as you roll, you avoid rolling it into your countertop and having to add too much flour. (Too much flour can make the dough dry and tough.) • Chill the dough after you roll it out and fit it into the pan. This firms it up before baking, which helps prevent the dough from shrinking too much in the oven's heat.• Choose large white or Spanish onions with high water content and some bite. Avoid sweet onions such as Vidalias, which could make the tart cloying. • The onions are cooked slowly and gently, so they don't take on too much color. Make sure to use enough butter and oil to cover the bottom of the pan before you add the onions. You need to smother your onions in the fat so they remain pale and turn very soft. An hour may sound like a long time, but low and slow is the best way to go here.• If the onions start to brown, turn down the heat a little, from medium to medium-low. Stir them around often, and scrape up any lightly browned bits on the bottom or sides of the pan so the browning doesn't spread. It is fine if there is a little browning, but you don't want too much. If browning is an issue, keep the heat low and increase the cooking time. Low and slow will keep browning at bay.• Adding a tablespoon or two of flour to the onions helps thicken the quiche filling, and it also reduces sogginess after baking. Sprinkle flour over the onions at least 5 minutes before they are done cooking, so the raw flavor in the flour will be cooked out.• In an ideal world, you would serve your quiche within an hour of baking, while it's still warm from the oven. But you can assemble and bake within six hours of serving. • Always let the quiche cool for at least 20 minutes on a wire rack (which lets air circulate around the pan) before trying to remove from the pan. This is both to avoid burning yourself, and to allow the pastry to set, so it's more stable and less likely to break. • The dough and onions can be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled. You can even prebake the crust the day before; keep it at room temperature, covered. • Don't refrigerate your quiche if you can avoid it. It leads to soggy pastry. • If you want to reheat a room-temperature quiche before serving, place it, uncovered, in a 300-degree oven and let it warm up for 10 to 20 minutes. (If it has been in the refrigerator, add another 10 minutes or so.)
• Feel free to play with fillings and flavors, swapping in ingredients as you like. Just be sure to keep the custard ratios the same: 1 egg to 1/3 cup heavy cream. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs to the onion quiche recipe above to give it freshness and verve. Basil, thyme, cilantro, chervil and chives work nicely. You could also add 1/4 cup chopped pitted black or green olives, either in place of the herbs or in addition to them. Substitute other cheese for the Gruyère, including Cheddar, blue cheese, feta, manchego, gouda or firm goat cheese. Or you could eliminate the cheese entirely if you prefer. Skip the bacon or pancetta and add 1 to 2 ounces smoked fish to the quiche instead. You don't need to brown the fish first; just dice it and add scatter over the prebaked crust in place of the lardons. Smoked salmon, white fish and trout are all great options. Substitute 1 1/2 to 2 cups of other cooked vegetables for the onions. Good candidates include sautéed spinach or chard; roasted or sautéed mushrooms, eggplant or zucchini; or roasted tomatoes or butternut squash.
• Here is another onion tart from the French tradition, a baker's treat that used the yeasted dough left over from making bread. It was topped with onions, bacon and fromage blanc, and baked until the dough puffed and the onions singed at the edges. This version uses a biscuitlike crust instead, adapted from the chef Gabriel Kreuther. Serve this as an appetizer or a light main course, or for brunch.
• Caramelized onions, briny anchovies and olives make the up the topping for this Provençal tart. Our version calls for a yeasted dough, which makes the tart somewhat like a pizza. But puff pastry, which Julia Child preferred, is also traditional, and quite a bit richer. Pissaladière makes great picnic fare, in addition to being a terrific appetizer or lunch dish.
• Photography Food styling: Alison Attenborough. Prop styling: Beverley Hyde. Additional photography: Karsten Moran for The New York Times. Additional styling: Jade Zimmerman. Video Food styling: Chris Barsch and Jade Zimmerman. Art direction: Alex Brannian. Prop styling: Catherine Pearson. Director of photography: James Herron. Camera operators: Tim Wu and Zack Sainz. Editing: Will Lloyd and Adam Saewitz. Additional editing: Meg Felling.
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• Sole Meunière

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain (reserving 1 tablespoon of grease) crumble bacon and set aside. Heat reserved bacon grease in skillet and saute onion until soft.
• In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, flour, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Add bacon, onion, mozzarella and cheddar cheese; mix well. Pour mixture into pie crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly brown on top and firm in the middle. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Melt the butter in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
• Saute onions for 5 minutes, or until tender.
• Transfer the onions and next 3 ingredients to a bowl.
• Combine the eggs, milk and nutmeg in another bowl.
• Season with salt to taste and stir in onion mixture.
• Pour into pie shell and bake 25-35 minutes or until center is set.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and half-and-half.
• Stir in ham, cheeses, pepper and red pepper.
• Pour mixture into the prepared pastry shell.
• Bake in a 350 oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
• Garnish as desired.