Quiche (we pronounce this kwee-chee)

      What makes a better meal on those hot summer days than something that is already cooked? I love making myself a quiche on my days off and then having it around for an easy lunch or breakfast for the rest of the week, because let's be honest, after cooking pancakes, omlettes and eggs all morning, I really don't want to come home and make a meal, but I have certainly worked up an appetite.  This also makes a beautiful dish for a lunch party or maybe something to have around for the grown-ups at your kid's birthday party.  It's beautiful, easy, versatile and most importantly very tasty. 

      I've been eying a really great pan at Target whenever I've gone for possibly the past 6 months and I finally got it.  A nine inch tart pan with a removable bottom and inch and a half sides.  I like using pans like this instead of just a pie pan because it really makes it quiche stand out and you get to see those beautiful rippled sides and end up with a nice tall quiche. So get your pan picked out and off we go.
      I know that I've quite possibly given you a different recipe for pastry dough every time I've talked about it here, but none the less here it is: in a food processor combine:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted, cold butter 
and pulse until it  resembles coarse sand.  Then, while the food processor is running slowly add
1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water
add until it begins to come together and immediately turn off.  Don't want to overwork our dough. Once this is done scrape it out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape it into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. You can make this dough a day in advance if want, but you will have to pull it out and let it soften just a little before rolling it out for your quiche.
      While this is cooling get your insides ready.  You can put pretty much anything you want in your quiche: maybe you want spinach and mushroom, maybe just an easy bacon and cheese, or you can have a little fun and do shrimp, tomatoes, green onions and pepper jack cheese.  That's the fun of it, it's totally up to you.  Just remember not to let your filling be too wet because once you've got all of that figured out you will be putting Royale in it.  Royale is an egg and cream mixture that is used for making lots of custardy foods, it is equal parts by volume of egg and cream, but then you can flavor it however you want.
      For my filling I sauteed
1 onion, thinly sliced until it began to caramelize, then added
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 lb breakfast sausage which I broke apart and browned then blistered
1 cup of cherry tomato halves and
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and the liquid squeezed out
All of this got well mixed and cooled slightly while made royale and rolled out my dough. For the royale thoroughly mix:
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups cream
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

      This should make enough to fill your pan as long as you have enough other stuff in it, but if you are doing a simple quiche you will need more so for every egg add 1/4 cup of cream.  Next roll out your dough  so that it is approximately 1/8 inch thick, or so that when you set your pan on top you have an extra 2 inches all the way around.  Carefully fit it into the pan, lifting the sides and letting them fall down into the corners of the pan.  Press the sides into the edges of the pan and then pinch the top against the lip of the pan to remove the excess dough.  At this point go ahead and add your cooled fillings as well as any cheese you might want.  Mine got
4 oz blue cheese crumbles
I would put more cheese in if you are using a different kind, blue cheese is just so strong we don't need it overpowering everything else.  Once all of your fillings are in and evenly spread out over the quiche add your egg mixture.  Preheat the oven to 325, put your quiche on a sheet pan just in case it leaks a little bit, we don't want to be cleaning it off the bottom of the oven and cook for 45 min to an hour.  I realize this is a big variation in time but it depends on how warm your  fillings were as well just a variation in oven temperatures.  Check it a 45 and give it a little shake, it should juggle in the middle just a little bit, but it should not be liquidy, if you aren't sure let it go a little longer, checking it every 5 min.  The center will raise a little as you are cooking it and you should be able to gently touch it with your hand and it will spring back.  Remove it from the oven and let it cool.  Like a fruit pie it will do better if you let it cool and then reheat it.  Have fun with it! Play with different flavors, and get some good crust making practice!

PS:  Why not make individual mini quiche in those tiny muffin tins?  roll out your dough, use a circle cutter to cut the dough, carefully lay it into the pan, make, say, 4 different kinds, 6 each fill it with royale and bake them off, the little ones should only take about 15-20 min in the oven, and will make great Hors D'oeuvres for a cocktail party or afternoon tea.