The Best Quiche Ever was eaten by a girl

Do you remember the mid 80’s when quiche and crepes were the big lunch favorites in downtown Anywhere?  They even had a book named “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” on the bestsellers list “back in the day”.  For some of us quiche is a genuine comfort food on a miserable day and I’m not ashamed to admit that nor that I make the best quiche EVER.

It happened like this; back in 1980 Dad, John and I deviated from our original financial plan.  What else is new, right?  Instead of staying in real estate we decided to start up a bottled water company.  Now that is a whole other story but here’s where the quiche comes in.  Dad felt he had to wine and dine with a lot of different business people but Nanton had a rather limited range of restaurants (although I have to say here that there were more restaurants and gas stations in 2,000 pop. Nanton than 5,000 pop. High River – why I don’t know).  Therefore Dad discovered restaurants in other local towns one of which became a real favorite with him.  The Flying N in Claresholm was owned and operated by Jean Hoare and her husband.  I loved her Chicken in the Gold feature and that is what I usually ordered when I happened to be one of the party.

Jean Hoare eventually wrote a cookbook and of course we had to have a copy.  I discovered her Classic Quiche Recipe and have been using it, or my version of it, for years.  One of the most important tricks to making a good quiche is to have a good pie recipe.  Basic pie recipe is best and for that I do the following; 1 cup of lard or Crisco, 2 cups of flour (plus more for dusting), ½ - 1 cup of COLD water, 1 tsp salt.  Cut the lard with knife & fork or use a pie cutter.  Slowly add in the flour (salt has been sifted in).  Once cut in then slowly add cold water to get it from crumb stage to a ball.  Usually you don’t need more than the ½ cup of cold water.  I cut the ball in ½ and roll out one portion for a pie.  Now here is an important TIP – do not over-roll your crust.  I turn my crust as I roll rather than rolling back & forth (which makes the dough tougher).  Handle it as little as possible.  Put in pie plate.  Repeat for second piece.  Leftovers go to make stripped topping.

For the filling of a quiche (Jean’s recipe with my substitutes in brackets):

·         4 slices bacon, 1 tbsp bacon drips (or you can substitute bacon bits, even the artificial kind)

·         1 cup sliced onions (or you can use a tablespoon of dried shallots)

·         1 ½ cups cheese (old cheddar is best)

·         4 eggs, beaten

·         1 cup milk

·         1 cup cream (note – if you have a smallish pie crust then reduce this to ½ cup of each)

·         ½ tsp salt

·         ¼ tsp pepper

·         ¼ tsp nutmeg (optional – I never use it – instead I use 1 tsp of dried roasted tomatoes)

Bake the piecrust for about 5-8 minutes just to be slightly flaky (at 425 C).  Add grated cheese and then add liquid mixtures (beat eggs, add milk, cream and spices as well as bacon and onions).  If you need to slightly stir the mixture to spread the onions or bacon, be gentle). 

Bake for 10 minutes at 450 C (If you have a convection oven you should reduce to 425C), then reduce heat to 350C for another 20 minutes.  Cool slightly before serving with a nice green salad.

Oh so good.