Quiche | Basics with Babish

- A good friend is someone who appreciates your personality like few others can. So today, my best friend and I enjoyed each other's unique way of doing things with the exceptionally delicious flavors of The Botanist Gin. This gin comes from a small island off the wild west coast of Scotland, and is a botanical and spring tonic that's really worth coming out of hibernation for. Here's to the beginning of spring, friendship, and the topic of today's episode, a spring vegetable

quiche

. Let's get down to the

basics

. (light mid-tempo music) Alright, we'll start by making a nice and easy

quiche

base, under a food processor.

In the bowl of said processor goes 145 g, or about a cup of all-purpose flour, and half a teaspoon of kosher salt, which we are simply going to mix to combine. We then add 113g or a stick of cubed unsalted butter chilled in the refrigerator, which we will process together while pouring about 45ml or three tablespoons of ice water through the feed tube. Then we want the dough to form into a ball, so if it doesn't, go ahead and add another tablespoon of water. And as soon as it starts to form big clumps, we'll take it out, start wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap, and press it into a disk.

This will make it easier to roll out into a circle after it spends at least an hour in the refrigerator. Once its period in the refrigerator is over, we are ready to roll it out on a generously floured work surface. Punch down first and then roll out to a diameter about two inches wider than the intended baking dish. I'm going to use a nine-inch fluted pie pan, so I'm going to have an even pie. Place the pie dough on the pie plate, and then we want to lift and release the dough, not press it or stretch it into the corners.

Once we've done that, we want to press it to fill in the ridged edges. A great way to do this is with a ball of dough, so your hot, warm fingers don't start melting all that cold butter. Once formed, this type returns to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. I know this is annoying, but this is what keeps the crust from shrinking and warping in the oven, which is where it's headed next, but first we need to give it weight. Now, you can line the crust with aluminum foil, but a crumpled piece of parchment paper works much better.

You just have to make sure it is completely wrinkled. If necessary, put it in your mouth and chew a little. I know this seems gross, but it's perfectly normal, I'm just kidding, don't do that. Go ahead and crumple up one that hasn't been in your mouth and press it into the quiche base. Now, to give it weight, you can use pie weights, beans, or rice, but I really like sugar. It really gets into all the nooks and crannies and presses completely and evenly into the crust, and turns into tasty toasted sugar in the oven, which is delicious to bake with.

Speaking of which, we pop it into a 375°F oven for 25 minutes before removing whatever pie weights we're using, and return the crust to the oven for another five to 10 minutes until lightly browned and the top is completely dry. . Now, while it's still relatively soft, we want to trim away anything that's sticking out so that our quiche has a nice, clean edge and we can remove it from the pan. Carefully shake off any loose crumbs, if any, and set them aside to cool completely while we prepare the filling and examine the crust. As you can see, it is a light and tender shortcrust pastry with many flaky layers and great for snacking on.

Once you're done eating, move on to the filling. Now keep in mind that I'm making fillings for several quiches right now, so don't pay attention to how much I'm making, just what I'm making. We will have the correct quantities in the recipe written on the website. To start with some caramelized leeks, we're basically going to thinly slice some leeks and soak them in water for about 10 minutes, and then we're going to slowly cook them in a splash of olive oil over medium-low heat for about half an hour, covering from time to time. when and adding a splash of water if necessary until soft, golden and caramelized.

Season with a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside to cool. Next, some sautéed mushrooms. You can use any type of mushrooms you want, here I have some sliced ​​baby bellas. And so I can feel like a fancy, fancy guy, I have some oyster mushrooms, which I'm going to cut off the roots and cut into small pieces. Now, mushrooms contain a lot of moisture, so it is especially important that we cook them before adding them to our quiche. I'll just sauté them in a little butter with a couple sprigs of fresh thyme and give them a pinch of kosher salt, which will help draw out their moisture.

We cook them for seven to eight minutes over medium heat until they release their liquid and evaporate and they begin to brown. Remove the thyme sprigs and set them aside to cool. Next step, some nice, thin asparagus. Everyone in my life has always told me that you should cut asparagus by splitting it, but I'm here to tell you that you can cut it, it's okay. We also cut the asparagus into small pieces before pouring it into some boiling water and shaking it into an ice bath after cooking for about five minutes. Obviously, boiling the asparagus will partially cook the asparagus, and shocking it in an ice bath will preserve its beautiful green color, and cooling it quickly will prevent it from turning mushy.

Last step, some simply sautéed spinach. A little olive oil and a very hot frying pan, add a lot more spinach than you think can fit in there and cook over medium high heat until it is reduced to about a billionth of its original size. At this point, we'll crush a clove or two of garlic and continue sautéing for another 30 seconds or until fragrant. Season with a little kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and, like everything else, set aside and let cool completely. Next, the all-important custard. And once again, I'm making several quiches here, so do as I say, not as I do.

And the recipes will be adjusted on the website. In a medium bowl, place two large eggs, half a cup of milk, and half a cup of heavy cream. Whisk this together with a pinch of white pepper until smooth. And then, for a shallow quiche like this, we'll start by putting a thin layer of Gruyere cheese, followed by each and every one of our pre-cooked spring vegetables. Then we will pour our cream on top until the quiche is almost full, it will puff up a little in the oven. Top with a little more cheese or lots of extra cheese, place on top of a rimmed baking sheet to protect your oven from any accidental drips.

Then we'll bake it at 375°F for 10 minutes, lower the temperature to 325, and bake for 30°F more. You want the edges to be firm but still a little wobbly in the center. Let cool for at least half an hour before removing from the tart pan and serving. And you can serve it hot at room temperature or cold in the refrigerator overnight. And it's a delicious and versatile breakfast, lunch or dinner. But what if we want to make a quiche that really stands out? Well, first we need to make ourselves some honest-to-goodness pie crust, and my new favorite way to do it is in a stand mixer.

This will be a much larger quiche, so it will be double the recipe we made in the food processor. And we'll use the paddle attachment on low speed to break the butter into the dry ingredients until it's in mixed pieces, about the size of blueberries. At that point, we'll add ice water a little at a time until it starts to clump together into a cohesive cake batter, which we'll treat very similarly to other cake batter. Press it into a disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight if you want to get ahead with the quiche game.

This time, we'll roll it out to a diameter of about 18 inches because our intended container is a nine-inch springform pan with high walls. Introducing the dough here is a little complicated. We will roll it on the roller so that it is as centered as possible on the spring mold. Then, to avoid holes, rips and tears, you really have to pick it up and drop it into the pan, knowing that your patience will be rewarded with a tall, proud crust. Put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before starting to pre-cook. Same procedure here, but this time, we used two crumpled sheets of parchment paper and a lot more sugar, this thing ate like six pounds of sugar.

But don't worry, nothing will go to waste, toasted sugar is your friend. We are prebaking at 375 for the same 25 minutes, carefully removing the sugar and returning to the oven for 10 to 15 more minutes until it no longer looks wet. Then, as before, we trim off the excess and let it cool completely before filling. Now, you may have noticed that this is a fairly deep quiche, so we will need a lot of pastry cream. We'll also make one that's super badass. We start by combining two cups each of whole milk and fresh cream, whisking gently until smooth and then once again taking out the mixer.

We'll use a total of 10 eggs and crack the first five into the mixer and beat them with about a third of a cup of all-purpose flour until a paste forms. This is to help stabilize the custard, which will, once again, be too tall. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if you missed any dryness, add the remaining five eggs and the milk and crème fraîche mixture, and we'll start whisking them together until we have a light, creamy filling for our quiche. But wait, the fun isn't over. We added about a tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme, a quarter cup of kosher salt, about a half teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, and a generous pinch of white pepper.

Then we beat them all on medium speed until everything is light and foamy, about a minute, and then it's time to fill. I have four ounces of Gruyere and three ounces of Emmental cheese. I'll sit on the bottom of the quiche base a little bit and then we'll start layering the filling. A roughly equal amount of each vegetable, and then we'll top it with custard and a little cheese, enough cream to cover the vegetables, a little cheese, rinse and repeat until it's full. Top generously, one might even say hungrily, with the remaining cheese, and instead of the oven's varying temperatures, this guy headed into a 325°F oven for an hour and a half, until the edges were set but the center shook when it shook.

Now this guy needs to chill for at least four hours, enough time to make us a cocktail. First, we're going to harvest some fresh thyme from our herb garden, or you can just grab some from the fridge, shake it up a little, and then we'll fill a tall Collins glass with some ice and a lemon peel. top that with two and a half parts Botanist Islay Dry Gin, oops, a splash, and cover that to the edge of the glass with tonic. Add a straw and our thyme garnish, and that's how easy it will be to prepare this classic, bright and crunchy cocktail that will pair perfectly with our quiche.

Speaking of which, we carefully removed it from its springform pan and now we're going to cut ourselves a big old slice. Take a moment to admire the soft, lush custard and savory fillings. And yes, this one is quite labor-intensive, but it's super impressive, and you just don't get quiche this good outside of a bakery. Thanks again to The Botanist Gin for sponsoring today's episode. This gin is distilled with wild botanicals from an island off the coast of Scotland. They are unique flavors that complement any season and friendship. This bright lemon B&T is the ideal way to welcome the warmer months and celebrate the unique people in your life.

Order a bottle of The Botanist on Drizly, the link is in the video description. Health. (soft and peaceful music)