Recipe of the week: The revamped quiche Lorraine

I love quiche. I just do. And I'm lactose intolerant, which is kind of a problem in relations to my love for the cheesiest quiche. Last year, I went to Paris and ate the best quiche on the planet at Angelina's and have been trying to re-create it. In other words, I've been attempting to re-live the unforgettable foodgasm I experienced. 

To be quite honest, I was never truly satisfied with the "Sassy quiche". Everyone loved it but there was something missing. It wasn't fluffy enough. Not "Angelina's" enough. Baking is not a joke: I had to remake it at least a dozen of times for me to find the perfect combination for the perfect recipe on top of figuring out how to make my own pie crust. You know the kind of recipe where people are almost crying while eating your meal? Yes. That's what I was looking for. Heck, even I wanted to be teary while eating it. 

I finally got it. There are a few tricks to achieving a quasi perfect quiche, such as too much butter and too much Gruyère cheese. The Gruyère makes all of the difference: It's high price is worth the expenditure because the taste is exquisite. Also, it is extremely important to use iced water (big mistake I used to make, I only used regular, room temperature water) as it keeps the butter intact without melting it. Another little trick of mine is to use either 2 table spoons of Tenderflake shortening or....bacon fat. You heard me: Bacon fat. 

Making your own crust is crucial. The store bought crust is good but nothing beats making your own. There's something about eating a pie made completely from scratch: The satisfaction is indescribable and it is fairly easy to make as long as you follow my specific instructions. You can use that pie for other meals such as meat pie ("tourtière") or French onion tart.

For the filling, I do something which might sound unorthodox...I replace 1 cup of heavy cream by....evaporated milk. Yes yes yes. Don't make that face. I find the taste is...different....In a good way. I can't really describe it but you have to trust me on this one. I've even made it using ONLY Carnation milk and it still turned out pretty good. Also, I caramelize my onions and don't just sautè them. It does take longer but the trick is to do it at the beginning of the recipe so that they cook slowly while you are preparing the crust.

For the pie crust, you will need

Recipe of the week: Sassou's sassy quiche

Mmmm i always loved quiche, but I never had one that made me go like WOW! So I decided to invent my own and its sooooooo good!! I'm telling you!!! I made it for myself a couple of times in the past and when I made it at my mom's brunch the other day, everyone loved it!! It takes less than half an hour to make and about 20 minutes in the oven! Here's the recipe :)

For one pie, you will need:

-A pie shell (they sell em in a box of two in the frozen section at the grocery store)

-6 eggs

-The big ham, diced

-One large onion, sliced

-One pack of spinach

-Spices (to your taste, of course, I used GOYA Adobo, garlic powder and herbs)

-Half a cup of grated cheddar (I like the marble one)

-Half a cup of grated mozzarella

-Butter or margarine

-Oil

-One tablespoon of corn starch (or flour)

(for the cheese, if you prefer one over the other, you can just use a cup of it instead of the two)

SOOOO!!!

-Put the pie shell in the oven for about 15 minutes on 375 degrees. While it is heating....

-In a large pan, caramelize the onions. For those who do not know what that means, you should heat some butter, a bit of oil and then when everything is real hot, add the onions and reduce the heat to medium. Let the onions get very very tender and if you see that they start to burn, add a couple of teaspoons of water. I also always add a spoon of sugar (to give it the dark color) and some salt and pepper. When you see that the onions are a nice brown color and ares super tender, turn off the heat.

-Remove pie shell from the oven, add the caramelized onions, put aside.

-Crank up the heat in the oven to 425 degrees.

-In the same pan you caramelized the onions, heat some oil (or butter) and add the ham, just a couple of minutes to give a it a nice color. DO NOT overcook. When ready, add it on top of the caramelized onions in the pie. 

-In that same pan, again (for the taste :) ), heat up a teaspoon of butter and cook the spinach. Guys, spinach looks huge when it is in the pack, but once you cook it it really, reaaaaaaally reduces lol so don't think you're doing something wrong if you only end up with a smaller quantity! When ready, add it on top of the ham in the pie.

-In a large bown, mix the eggs with the spices, corn starch and half of the grated cheeses.

-Add the beated eggs to the pie...its starting to look good!!!

-Then, at the end, add the rest of the cheese on top of the quiche.

-Put in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!! mmmmm

*Tips*

-If you dont have ham, use any good meat you have! I've done it with bacon, bologna etc.

-The cheese is really to your taste. If you have less than the required quantity, it's still gonna be good.

-You can do it with other veggies, if you don't like spinach. Its also great with brocoli, red pepper etc :)

Here is my mom cutting the pie...mmm :)