A Tribute to Quiche

There was a time when, thoughtless child that I was, I disliked quiche. Thankfully, those days are so long past that I feel compelled to honour the savoury French dish in this tribute. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the tribute will be limited mostly to recipes.

Before that, though, an etymological note (based on an entry in the Online Etymology Dictionary): The French word, "quiche," comes from "Küche," which (in an Alsace-Lorraine dialect) is a diminutive form of "Kuchen" (meaning cake in German).

While I'm at it, a dough-related note: For the following two recipes, the type of dough you use for the shell is not too important. The Gemüsekuchen recipe recommends 450g Blätterteig or puff pastry (in which case, one thaws the sheets of puff pastry, lays them over each other, and rolls them out to a suitably-sized circle). As for the Smoked Salmon and Dill Tart, there are several versions online that recommend phyllo pastry. As I recall, my original source for the recipe (which I can't find) simply called for a deep-dish pie crust. Either way, all of the above can be replaced by one or two balls of shortcrust pastry.

Mürbeteig or Shortcrust Pastry
(which does, indeed, taste somewhat like shortbread)

200g flour
100g butter
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp (ice-)cold water

With so few ingredients, the procedure cannot but be straightforward: Cut up the butter, rub it into the flour and salt, add the water (perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less), knead it into a nice ball of dough, put it in cling wrap, and chill it for half an hour.

If you end up with leftover dough, that is no problem at all. I usually roll it out, cut it into pieces (maybe 2" in diametre, but it doesn't matter), place the pieces on a baking sheet, cover them with ch***e and chopped up ham/bacon/salami/etc., and bake them in the oven at around 200°C until the dough looks nicely golden-brown. Besides that, there are plenty more imaginative, delicious uses for the dough, since it is so basic and versatile.

Gemüsekuchen (Vegetable Quiche)
(from the 1994 edition of Herzhaft & Pikant)

butter (to grease the pan)
pastry shell (for a 30cm quiche or springform pan)
1kg vegetables (e.g. cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes)
salt
1 bunch of mixed herbs (e.g. parsley, dill, chives, basil)
100g App**zeller ch***e (Emm**taler works, too)
375g crème fraîche
3 eggs
pepper

- preheat oven to 175°C
- rinse the vegetables, slice up the carrots, cut the cauliflower and broccoli into pieces
- boil them in salt water for three minutes, place them into iced water or under cold running water, drain them thoroughly
- make little crosses in the bottoms of the tomatoes, cover them with boiling water, peel off the skins
- finely chop the herbs, finely grate the ch***e
- whisk together the ch***e, crème fraîche, eggs, and herbs
- season with salt and pepper (careful not to put too little salt . . . or too much)
- place the pastry shell in the buttered pan
- arrange the vegetables in the pastry shell
- pour crème fraîche mixture over top
- bake in oven for about 50 minutes (or until the quiche sets and browns a little on top)

As aforementioned, the Smoked Salmon and Dill Tart is theoretically made in a 9" deep-dish pan, but I prefer to make it in two non-deep-dish pans (9" or less). I get worried, perhaps unreasonably, that the quiche won't set properly if it is too thick. Alternatively, one could make little tarts. That's what I would do if I didn't consider it too much trouble.

Smoked Salmon and Dill Tart
(in the absence of smoked salmon, ham will do -- Kasseler Lachs, for example)

pastry shell(s)
4 large egg yolks
20mL Dijon mustard
3 large eggs
1 cup half and half
1 cup whipping cream
6 oz smoked salmon (chopped)
4 green onions (chopped)
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (or 15mL dried)

- preheat oven to 300°F
- whisk yolks and mustard to blend
- beat in eggs and the rest of the ingredients
- season with salt and pepper (this time, especially if you've used ham, I'd be more careful about putting too much salt)
- pour the mixture into the pastry shell(s)
- bake until the centre is set (~50 min)

Apart from the above dishes, I sometimes make Quiche Lorraine, or a variant thereof, but there probably isn't much point in posting such a standard recipe here. Still, it is a classic, and a tasty one, so it deserves at least a mention.

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Brought to you by Mackerels for a Ch***e-Free Tribute. (see A Tribute to Mackerel)