Wow, life has been real havoc lately; tending to my new little one and J-man adjusting to his new kindy. I hardly have the time to experiment with any new recipes and feel that everything is due to be done…like post something on my blog. Haha. I keep telling myself, ‘I need to do this already….or do that already….get a haircut, scrub the bathroom floor, empty the pantry of expired stuff, plan for CNY dinner…’ as soon as I have some or little free time to sit down, one would either be crying for feed or the other for meals and sleep.
Fortunately, I found the time to bake this quiche for some friends who came over to visit Sarah. I had initially planned to do a whole proper English tea spread but in the end, a few people came because others were preoccupied with their plans. I was inspired to do quiche having seen some other bloggers making it lately like Kelly and Quay Po. I did quiche before and took a loooong pause after that so it’s time to revisit this dish again.
If you ask me, you can put anything in a quiche. A quiche is basically a frittata or omelette with pie crust. I suppose you can see it in a way that if you take away the crust, you have something of a meal for lunch or dinner but with the crust, it’s very suited for brunch or tea.
I made my crust using a food processor and I always make a bit more so I can keep the excess pastry in the fridge and use it to make another quiche with a different kind of filling.
A quiche is really such a great dish for those times of entertaining when you don’t wish to do a lot of work in the kitchen and you know your guests won’t eat all that much. Goes well with tea or coffee or any hot beverages.
This was also a chance for me to christen my new pie pan with removable bottom. Although I could lift the whole quiche out of the pan to reveal that nice grooved sides of the crust, I couldn’t or rather didn’t know how to remove the bottom piece, so I left it there. Haha. Anyways, when you cut into it, it provides a nice level bottom too.
Broccoli, Bacon and Mushroom Quiche
Ingredients
Crust;
- 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour for a 24 inch pie pan
- 200 gms of frozen unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 2-3 tbsp very cold water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Extra flour for dusting
Filling;
- 200 gms Brown mushrooms sliced
- 1 head of broccoli chop to florets
- 4 rashers of bacon sliced
- 1 medium onion chopped
- Olive oil
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup cream or milk
- A handful of grated Calico cheese or use cheddar
- Salt sparingly
- Black pepper
- Parsley for embellishment
Instructions
- Sift and mix together the flour, salt and sugar. Place them in the food processor with the cold butter cubes and pulse till you have a texture that represents wet sand.
- Add the cold water with the processor still churning till the pastry pulls away from the sides of the container.
- Knead a little with your hands but not too long or too much and shape it into a ball. Cover with cling film and freeze it for like 20 mins.
- Pre-heat your oven to 180C. Take out the pastry and roll it out to about half a cm thick. Cover the bottom or your pie pan and press it down gently with your hands to level it.
- Prick the bottom all over with a fork and trim the edges.
- Pre-bake it for 15 mins.
- While that's happening, cut your broccoli head into florets and blanch them in hot, boiling water. Take them out immediately and blanch it in cold water to stop the cooking.
- Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the bacon till it's crisp. Dish it out but leave the bacon fat in the pan. Cook the onions and mushrooms with the bacon fat. Bring back the bacon and broccoli and toss it together at the lat minute.
- Beat the eggs and cream together. Season with some salt and pepper. Add the cheese. Pour in the broccoli, bacon and mushroom mix into the eggs. Stir.
- Take out the pie crust and put it on another tray and pour the filling into it.
- Bake for 30 - 45 mins till the middle is cooked (no egg juice coming out when you press it gently with a knife) and the top has browned.
- Leave to cool for 10 mins before eating. Sprinkle with parsley.
Your quiche looks soooo delicious! I don’t think I can ever resist a piece (or few) of quiche really. Yeah it is indeed quite tricky to remove the bottom, usually takes a few tries for me because I’m always too eager to remove them from the pan and almost always scald my fingers!
The trick is make sure the crust has loosen from the bottom (with a butter knife if needed), then tip the bottom a bit and use a spatula or said knife to push it out while sliding the pan out. Leaving it in is of course a better option 😛
Hi kelly, i was too eager i guess, if i left it to cool a bit more then it will be firm enough to lift out but i served it right from the oven so it was wobbly. I didn’t dare try to take it out in case i drop the whole thing! Now that would’ve been so paiseh.
I think your guests must have ‘awwed’ at u, since u still could bake them a quiche. Don’t worry too much about blogging.. once u have more rest, then come back with a vengeance.
If you want to protect the base of the pan, line it with some baking paper so that it won’t get knife marks when u cut. It makes lifting from the pan easier too.
I use a cleaver to do that normally, then slide it into the serving plate.
Thanks for tips! At least they finished the whole thing. Will blog when i can because if i keep out of action for too long, feel lazy to get back. 🙂
What a yummy and stunning quiche! I love quiche and I should attempt it some day. Your two little darlings are so cute and adorable!
Thank you phong hong! They bring joy to my life when they’re not all crying and wreaking havoc. 🙂
Yes, your two little ones are so cute.. love it when my kids have a nice moment together too.
yes yen, they laugh together and cry together too.
wow, this is a heart warming and comfort food to me.