Technique: Pie Crust and Recipe: Bacon & Onion Quiche

Bacon & onion quiche. 

Also peas and home-made hash browns. Dinner time

Wait a second... Isn't there already a quiche recipe on this site? Yes, there is, but that was ham and cheese - this is bacon and onion. Big difference? No, but it's a way of revisiting the quiche in general - which is generally a good thing.

So let's begin!

First, let's talk about the differences between the earlier recipe and this one:

• The pie crust in the earlier recipe called for water and vodka, this only wants water
• The pie crust in the earlier recipe was made by hand, this was made in a food processor

What does this mean? Sounds like there are a few different ways to make a pie crust. YOU ARE CORRECT! Here's what you want from a pie crust:

A pie crust should be tender and flaky:

1. Tender: this means a minimum amount of gluten. Gluten is the protein that gives structure to baked breads. It is created/strengthened by working dough. The more you work a piece of dough, the more gluten is created. To maximize tenderness, minimize the dough work. Tender!
2. Flaky: this means there are layers and layers of the dough. This is done by thin "sheets" of fat separating flour particles from one another. When the dough cooks, and the fat melts away, the sheets of flour are all that remain. Flaky!

The earlier recipe substituted vodka for some of the water in an effort to minimize the gluten. Sounds like a decent idea, but kind of a pain. Also, vodka is for drinking! The new recipe relies on the speed and efficiency of the food processor to minimize the working of the dough and the formulation of the gluten. Let's just agree that the two pillars of a successful pie crust are creating layers of fat & flour and the minimization of the gluten formation. Honor those two tenets, and your pie crust will be A.O.K.

Next, is this bad ass? Yes, proper cooking and science literacy are both bad ass. Otherwise, it's dumb ass.

Bacon & Onion Quiche

Serves 6 (probably, or 4 for dinner and then 2 for left-over breakfast)

Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 Cups All purpose flour
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable shortening (aka Crisco)
• 3 Tbs Cold butter, cut into thin pieces
• 1/2 tsp Table salt
• 2-4 Tbs Cold water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In the workbowl of your food processor, add the flour and salt, and process until mixed (like 2 damn seconds)
2. Add the shortening and butter and process in bursts until evenly processed and no fat is individually visible (like 5 pulses)
3. Through the feed tube, add 2 Tbs of water and process until it comes-together as a dough (like 3-4 seconds)

When the dough comes-together, it will look like this. A dough ball in the processor.

4. If it doesn't come-together, add a little more water and process until it does (add a small amount at a time - the goal is to add only as much water as the dough needs and no more)
5. Dump the dough onto your clean countertop (sprinkled with a small amount of flour to keep it from sticking)
6. Work the dough lightly into a hockey puck shape. Wrap with wax paper (or plastic wrap) and put into the fridge for 1-24 hours. This will rest the dough, allow the fat to re-congeal, and allow the water to hydrate the remaining dry flour in the dough. It needs at least an hour, but more time won't hurt it.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge and have the pie plate ready
8. Dust your countertop and your rolling pin with a small amount of flour (like 2 and 1 Tbs respectively)

This is the right amount of flour for your work surface

9. Deposit the hockey puck into the flour and roll in one direction (from you toward the wall). Then turn the dough 90 degrees and roll again (from you toward the wall). You want to avoid rolling any which way because this will cause some parts of your dough to be thinner than the other parts. Baking is a cruel bitch, and she demands motherfucking precision.
10. If the dough sticks a little to the counter, toss a little flour under there and keep going. Keep rolling and turning until it's ~1/8" thick and bigger than your pie plate by ~2" all around.
11. Transfer your perfect dough to the ready pie plate. To do this easily, lightly "roll" the dough around your rolling pin and unroll it into the pie plate. Try to get it perfectly centered, otherwise gently shift it into position. CAREFUL: that pie crust is kinda fragile. If you rip it or something, just push the two parts together - it should mend. This works best if you don't use TOO MUCH DAMNED FLOUR when rolling-out the dough. Too much flour will prevent the dough from sticking to itself for repairs.

Easily move the dough by wrapping it around the pin

12. Artfully prepare the edges of your pie. I like these best:
1. Fluted-edge
2. Crisscross edge
3. Petal edge
4. and Rope edge. Save the others for your retirement when you have nothing but time and need to impress the ladies' auxiliary with your home baking skills

Scallop edge: sure it looks nice, but that's a lot of work

13. Cut a sheet of parchment paper slightly larger than your pie, press the paper lightly to the bottom dough, and add enough pie weights to cover the bottom. WHAT THE?!? Read the note about this step below.
14. Blind bake your crust at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
15. The pie crust is complete and ready for savory fillings.

RECIPE NOTES

• Parchment paper and whatnot? >> To achieve a cooked bottom crust, we'll need to pre-bake the pie crust. If we just bake it as-is, the bottom will bubble-up because the heat from the bottom of the pie plate will cook the fat and make steam. The steam will have no place to go and will make a bubble. The bubble will eventually cook and set that way - crusty. We need to either 1. keep the bubbles from forming (pie weights) or 2. give the steam an escape route. I prefer using the pie weights, but if you don't have those, "dock" your pie crust before baking. That means pierce it all-over with a fork. Don't go apeshit, just make enough holes for any trapped steam to find an escape route. I prefer a perfectly clean and hole-free bottom crust, but this will be fine for a quiche.

Pie weights on the left; docking on the right. Choose one

• Why butter and shortening? >> Shortening makes the best flakes but butter tastes better. Using both (more shortening) will allow you to live in both worlds - flaky and delicious. That's also why we added salt: for taste.

Quiche

INGREDIENTS

• 5 Large eggs (3 whole and 2 yolks)
• 1+ Cup Half & half
• 8 oz. Bacon, cut-up into small pieces (like 1/2" or something)
• 1 Onion, diced
• 8 oz. Shredded cheese (you choose the type - see note)
• Black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook the bacon in a skillet until almost crispy. The texture won't really toughen-up any more in the quiche, so cook it how you like it. For most people, this is just past leathery and short of brittle. Set the bacon aside.
2. IN THE SAME DAMNED SKILLET, remove about half the bacon grease and cook the onion until tender and translucent (about 5-10 minutes depending on heat). Why use the same skillet? For flavor, dummy. Set the cooked onions aside.
3. In a 2 Cup glass measuring cup, crack three eggs and then add two egg yolks. Separating eggs is easy:
1. Crack the egg over the sink (or, if you want to preserve the white, over a bowl)
2. Carefully separate the shell positioning the yolk in either half
3. Allow the white to drip away - shift the yolk around in the shell to dislodge as much white (albumen) as possible
4. Dump the yolk into your 2 Cup measuring cup and repeat
4. With a fork, violently mix the eggs into a homogeneous yellow mass of fat and protein. Yum.
5. Add enough half & half to slightly exceed the 2 Cup mark on the glass measuring cup. The goal is slightly more than 2 Cups of liquid. If you're using dry measuring cups, fill it to the top, dump into a bowl, and then add a little more half & half.

See how there's space above the 2 Cup markings?

This is a liquid measuring cup. Use this one.

6. Add pepper to taste and violently stir some more - until homogeneously combined.
7. To the pre-cooked pie crust, add some cheese, then some bacon & onion, then a little more cheese, then the rest of the bacon & onion, then the rest of the cheese (it's a cheese-meat-cheese-meat-cheese sandwich).
8. Pour the egg mixture over the whole thing, slowly. If you're using a shallow pie plate, you might not use all the egg mixture. If you're using a deep pie plate, well, remember that next time and slightly increase all the ingredients to fill-up your bottomless pie bucket of a plate. Sheesh.
9. Carefully place the quiche into the oven and cook at 350 for ~45 minutes. At 40 minutes, check the quiche by lightly jiggling the dish - if the center doesn't move (or moves very little), the quiche is done. Otherwise, cook a few more minutes and check again.
10. Allow to cool slightly (like 10-15 minutes) and then cut into wedges and eat.

RECIPE NOTES

• What kind of cheese should I use? >> That's all about personal preference. I think Swiss goes pretty well with bacon and onion, but so does sharp cheddar. You want something with some flavor - stay away from mozzarella or Monterey Jack.