03.26.12_Asparagus, Leek, and Gruyere Quiche

For my sister's birthday we went to a restaurant that changed their menu to feature seasonal items. The vegetable of spring was asparagus. Asparagus was all I could think about the entire following day. I was browsing our blog when I saw the picture of our Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche Phillip had made and it made me want another quiche. The obvious solution was to find a quiche that had asparagus. Luckily Martha Stewart had a recipe for a Asparagus, Leek, and Gruyere quiche. Perfect.

I had never cooked with leeks before so I was excited to try something new. As all quiches seem to be, this was insanely easy. While Phillip beat together 4 eggs, 1 1/4 cups half and half, a teaspoon salt, a teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg, I prepped the asparagus and leeks. I cut off the tough ends of the asparagus and then sliced the stalks diagonally to create nice long strips. I saved 5 of the tops separately for decoration. For the leeks, I took one leek, cut off the dark green parts, then cut the remaining stalk in half before thinly slicing into half moons. I rinsed the leeks thoroughly to remove any grit and dirt. Next, I melted a TBSP of butter in a pan over medium heat, added the asparagus and leeks, then seasoned with S&P. I sauteed the asparagus and leeks for about 7 minutes then set aside to cool.

While I was sauteing, Phillip grated a cup of Gruyere cheese and filled the bottom of our store-bought pie crust with it. Once the asparagus and leeks were cool, we put them on top of the cheese, and then finally added the egg mixture. The quiche bakes for about an hour in a 350° oven. Our oven stopped working yesterday (unfortunate timing) so I ended up baking the quiche in our toaster oven. It fit perfectly and still worked (we just baked it for a little bit longer). When there was about 15 minutes left, I added the 5 reserved asparagus tips.

The quiche rested for 15 minutes before we served it. I made a side salad of mixed greens, slivered almonds, shavings of leftover Gruyere, and made a quick lemon vinaigrette with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, good olive oil, and S&P. This meal was so good. Sometimes the easiest meals taste the best. It was a very light but very satisfying dinner. I was worried that it would taste too oniony for Phillip but it wasn't at all and it certainly satisfied my asparagus craving. I definitely plan on making more quiches in the future. They are just too easy and too versatile to pass up.

09.19.11_Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche

Hello everyone! This is Phillip, for once. I'm not much of a cook, unless you want some killer shells and cheese, but Jonathan and I decided that a Spinach Quiche would be a great recipe for me to try. Jonathan found this recipe on Spoon Fork Bacon, and it looked - like all of their dishes do - phenomenal.

I started out by preheating the oven to 425 degrees and grabbing a mixing bowl. All the ingredients will end up in this bowl, so you might as well get a large one. The recipe calls for three full eggs and two egg whites. If anyone is watching you do this, it is extremely vital that you crack the eggs with one hand, so that you look as cool as possible. After the eggs, I mixed in 2/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup heavy cream, some S&P, and whisked it until everything mixed together.

Back off Morimoto, I got this.

My happy helper Jonathan sliced half of a red pepper and grated a cup of Fontina cheese while I sauteed the spinach in olive oil with some salt and pepper. You need about a full cup of cooked spinach, which came out to three or four handfuls of fresh spinach. After I cooked the spinach, I used my hands to wring out the excess liquid. Using my rockstar knife skills, I chopped up the spinach and set it aside.

The pie crust I used was a frozen 9" Whole Foods crust that we thawed in the fridge overnight. Jonathan placed his peppers in the bottom of the crust while I spread around my chopped spinach on top of the peppers. Back to the mixing bowl, I added a tbsp of minced thyme with the Fontina cheese, gave it a quick stir and poured the entire mixture into the pie crust. Jonathan crumbled
some goat cheese on top, and it fit perfectly in the 9" crust.

I was a little paranoid about spills, so I put the quiche on a baking sheet before putting it in the oven. After baking for 20 minutes, I turned the oven down to 375. I peeked to make sure it hadn't overflowed or exploded, but thankfully everything looked fine. After 25 more minutes at 375, I pulled the quiche out of the oven and let it set for another 10 minutes to let it cool down and settle. I washed a bowl of grapes for our side, and we were ready to eat!

Overall, I'd call this a huge personal victory. It tasted delicious and was a huge step up from anything I think I've ever made before. The only change I made to the recipe was that I cooked it for five minutes longer on 375 than suggested and used skim milk instead of whole. In retrospect, I would have used a little less thyme. Even though it is one of my favorite spices, it seemed to take over the dish. I hope to have many more successes to share with you all in the future!