Quiche

I love me a good quiche. And last December I finally made my first one for my bestie's parents and then again for me and the hubby. I tweaked the recipe as I'm known to do and I do believe I have found our favorite variation. 

Quiche

1 pie crust
4 pieces of thick bacon, chopped
1/2 of a shallot, diced
3 large crimini mushrooms, chopped
4 cups of spinach
2 Tbs of sliced olives (optional)
1 cup of heavy cream*
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese**

Pre heat oven to 375.

In a skillet, crisp up the bacon. Add the shallots and mushrooms and cook until tender. Add spinach (I just remove the large stems and do a rough tear as we like the bigger pieces of it, but you can slice it thinly if you prefer) and toss until it wilts. Add olives (these I like to do a rough chop on them) and mix until combined. Drain any excess grease if needed.

Lay the pie crust into a pie deep dish. I like to spray mine with Pam so it doesn't stick. Crimp the edges and trim any excess if you need to. You can totally make your own pie crust but I'm lazy and the refrigerated version works perfectly well. You can also use a frozen deep dish pie crust as well. Just let it thaw.

In a bowl, add the heavy cream and eggs. Beat together with some salt and pepper.

In your pie dish, add a layer of the bacon mixture and then a half a cup of the shredded cheese and repeat those layers. Slowly pour the egg mixture over the top. Cover with the remaining half cup of cheese and bake for about 40-45 mins. 

Stick a butter knife in the center and if it comes out clean it is done. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle some chopped chives on top if desired and enjoy!

Notes:
* The recipe calls for half and half but I never have that on hand so I use half cup of heavy cream and a half cup of milk. It's literally the same thing.

** Cheese - the original recipe calls for mozzarella. And it works perfectly well and is quite tasty. I've done a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella as well as Gouda. Gouda is by far my favorite, it adds a nice little nuttiness to it. You can use any cheese you want, just make sure it's not a hard cheese as it will not melt as well.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs Every Time!

I was asked by a couple of my co-workers how to properly cook hard boil eggs so I thought I would share my secret for the perfect hard-boiled egg here. After all it’s not that big of a secret.

Here is the key to the perfect hard-boiled egg: DO NOT BOIL THE EGGS!

What? Are you kidding? Is it really as simple as that? Yes, yes it is.

I love hard-boiled eggs but there is nothing worse that rubbery whites and a grayish green crumbly yolk.  If you are making deviled eggs you can work around the yolk but the whites? Nope not gonna happen. It’s a tricky thing. If you cook the whites perfectly then the yolks are goopy. If you made sure the yolks are done then your whites are the consistency of rubber.

So try this way and tell me if it’s not better.

Take a large pot and place your eggs in it. Make sure not to overcrowd your eggs. If that means you have to cook them in multiple batches then do it. Trust me the extra time is worth it.

Cover your eggs with COLD water. You want to have about an inch of water over the eggs.

Turn the burner on medium high and bring to a light boil. You start to get bubbles going but not too many.

Take the eggs off the heat and cover firmly with a lid. Leave covered for at least 10 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE LID! Covering the pot contains the heat and steam and that will cook the eggs gently yet thoroughly. After 10 minutes, you can check the eggs by sacrificing one. Cut it open to check the yolk. If it is still not to your desired firmness, cover and let sit for a few more minutes.

Once eggs are done either rinse under cold water or let sit in an ice bath. I prefer the ice bath method as it does double duty. It stops the cooking process and two if you let them sit for a bit it will also make them easier to peel.

You can also use vinegar or baking soda in the water to make them easier to peel. I find out of the two I prefer baking soda. I only use a teaspoon of it. But the ice bath works just as well in my opinion.