First Quiche!

3 eggs (so few!? yes.)
1.5 cups milk/cream
6oz. cheese (gruyere)
2 cups sliced leeks
1/4 lb. sliced turkey bacon
whole wheat pie crust (frozen)
3 Tb butter

Cut "bacon" in strips, brown in pan, using about 1 Tb butter - turkey bacon doesn't render much fat. If I use regular bacon, I wouldn't add the butter. Remove bacon from pan, leaving rendered oil. Add 2 Tb. additional butter. Sweat 2 cups leeks on med. heat until soft and delicious. Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 325º F

Beat eggs in big bowl. Add milk/cream mixture. I used 3/4 c. half-and-half, plus 3/4 c. 2% milk. Mix in 6 oz. cheese. At this point I added some finely chopped chives - just to add some color to the quiche body. Mix well.

Remove pie crust from freezer. I made a little foil wrapper for the crust edge so it wouldn't burn - but that is personal preference. Evenly distribute leeks into bottom of pie crust. Add turkey bacon in an even layer. Pour egg mixture over leeks and bacon, filling pie crust. The quiche will not rise, so go ahead and fill to the max level.

The instructions I used said cook 20-30 minutes. Mine took nearly twice that judging by thermometer readings. I cooked it to 160º at the center ( I think most of it reached 165º) and it was quite good that way - perfectly browned on top, soft and custardy inside. I figure it could have gone to 170-175º for additional firmness, but it was quite good as it was. Also, I put a piece of foil over it for the last few minutes because it wasn't quite up to temp, but the top had reached the brown-ness I wanted. Worked great.

In fact, I made a second quiche with foil over the top for the whole cooking process. It cooked a lot faster, but when done, had no browning. Will be great for re-heating, but looks kinda pale.

Final product, as served:


As you can see, I topped it off with chopped chives. Color is king. Served with big salad (homemade fresh croûtons), and sautéed carrots. Delish. Riesling wine. Parmesan pictured is for salad.

Lessons:

Next time, a bit less cheese. Maybe 4 oz. Also, might flirt with higher cooking temp. Whole wheat crust is a winner.