Recently, my friends at Cabot Creamery Cooperative and their Vermont neighbors King Arthur Flour challenged a group of bloggers to come up with their best quiche recipe. At stake is a package of goodies from these two iconic brands. They are calling this contest #QuicheFeast.
Well, it just so happens that I love quiche and I make it quite frequently for brunch and for dinner. So this contest is right up my alley. I am going to be honest: making a homemade quiche is a process with multiple steps. First, you have to make the dough for the crust. Then you have to roll out the crust and blind-bake it. Next, you have to make the filling. And finally, bake the whole thing.
I know that sounds like a lot of work. And it is. But, and this is an important qualification, you can break the work up and stretch it over a day, two days or even longer. For example, you can make the dough for the crust any time and freeze it, well-wrapped, until you need it, for months even. That is especially helpful because this recipe will make enough dough for two crusts. So use one and freeze the other for another day.
You can roll also out the crust and chill it in the pie plate for several days. You can blind bake the crust earlier in the day and fill it and bake it off right before dinner. In short, quiche is a versatile and forgiving project that accommodates busy schedules.
The filling of this quiche is inspired by the fall farmers market. I knew I wanted to use apple — yes, apple — in my quiche because I think that apple is such a natural pairing with cheddar. And I thought it might be something that the judges had not seen before. Obviously, this is the time to use a tart, firm apple, such as a Granny Smith.
I added fennel because it too is a fall crop and I thought its mild licorice taste would help balance the sweetness of the apple. When working with fennel, remember to trim off the long stalks and remove the woody core. A few chopped scallions for some color and a quiche is born. The combination was inspired and my husband and I enjoyed this quiche for dinner with a spinach salad on the side.
I am excited that Cabot Creamery is partnering with King Arthur Flour on this quiche contest because that is the flour I use in all my baking. The King Arthur Flour website is an excellent source for useful but hard-to-find ingredients like Espresso Powder and SAF Red Instant Yeast.
And have you seen King Arthur Flour’s new magazine Sift? It’s stunning and deserves a spot next to your Saveur and Bon Appetit. The Fall issue has a recipe for apple cake with brown sugar glaze that I made for my family and they devoured it practically in one sitting. It is everything a fall recipe should be.
Ingredients
- 7 ounces cold, unsalted European-style butter
- 2¼ cups all-purpose King Arthur flour
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ cup ice water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 green apples, peeled and diced
- 1 bulb fennel, trimmed, cored and sliced (Reserve some fronds for garnish)
- 1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cream
- 1 heaping cup grated Cabot Extra-Sharp Cheddar
Instructions
- To make the crust, cut the butter into small cubes and place in the freezer.
- Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
- Add the chilled butter to the dry ingredients and process just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Combine the lemon juice or vinegar and ice water and add six tablespoons of the mixture to the ingredients in the food processor. Pulse several times until combined. Pinch a bit of the dough and if it holds together, you do not need to add more liquid. If it is still dry, add more of the liquid, one-half tablespoon at a time.
- Remove the dough to a bowl or a well-floured board.
- Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Divide the dough into two and wrap each half well in plastic wrap. (You only need one of the halves for this recipe, so save the other.)
- Place the dough in the refrigerator to relax for at least a half-hour but preferably overnight.
- Remove one of the balls of dough from the refrigerator. If your dough was chilled for longer than thirty minutes, allow to soften for ten to fifteen minutes before rolling it out.
- Prior to rolling out the dough, strike it with your rolling pin to flatten. This will soften it further.
- Preheat the oven to 400 and grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.
- Liberally dust a pastry board or mat and your rolling pin with flour.
- Roll the dough out, rotating it and turning it frequently and adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until it is the size of your pie plate and between ¼ and ⅛ of an inch thick.
- Carefully center the pie dough in the plate and press it into the bottom and sides. Trim or fold over any excess dough around the edges.
- Chill the dough in the pie plate 30 minutes if possible, and dock it several times with the tines of a fork to prevent bubbling.
- Blind bake the crust by covering it with parchment paper and filling with pie weights or raw rice. Bake for twenty minutes, then remove the parchment paper and pie weight and bake an additional five minutes.
- While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium heat.
- Add the fennel and apple and sauté until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the scallions and sauté an additional few minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and cream.
- When the crust is baked, remove from oven and reduce heat to 325.
- Place apple and fennel mixture in the crust and cover with half the cheese.
- Pour the egg and milk mixture over the filling. Top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for one hour.
- Garnish with chopped fennel fronds.
- Allow to cool before cutting.
Full disclosure time: I received complimentary products from Cabot Creamery and King Arthur Flour to facilitate my participation in the contest. I have not received any compensation for this post and all opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
