Quiche!

September 11, 2010 6:27 PM

What are your preferred quiche ratios?

for the sake of argument, assume a 9 inch premade crust (cooked in a glass pan), an onion, some garlic, and some meat (fake sausage, specifically) - how much half & half, egg, and cheese would you use? would you pre-bake the crust? would you cover the edges of the crust in tinfoil?

i googled, but everyone has such a wide array of opinions - i know it's deadly easy and one of those things that comes down to trial and error, but i'd like to hear some opinions to get started.

posted by nadawi to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Listen to Mollie Katzen:

1. Follow pie crust recipe for Spinach-Ricotta pie, or your own favorite for a single crust.

2. Cover bottom of crust with 1 ½ cups grated Swiss. (Gruyere is best.)

3. Cover cheese with: 1 medium onion chopped; sautéed in butter with
¼ lb. Mushrooms salt, pepper, dash of thyme

4. Make a custard: Beat well together
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 3 Tbs. flour
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. dry mustard

5. Pour custard over mushroom layer.

6. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 375º for 40-45 minutes, or until sold in the center when jiggled.
posted by TDIpod at 6:35 PM on September 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

I use 1/4 cup of whole milk of half and half for each egg. For a 9 inch pie crust with some fillings, that usually comes to 4 eggs and 1 cup of liquid. I always cover the edge of the pie crust with foil.

For the record, my favorite quiche involves a handful of grape tomatoes, sliced in half, some feta, and and handful of chopped spinach.
posted by Hushpuppy at 6:47 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

For a crust of that size, I use 2 eggs to 1 cup of light (or heavy) cream. It has been working pretty well for me. I occasionally get an urge to add a third egg, which makes it a little "eggier.". I also mix in about a tbs of salt (some of which may go into sweating the onions), a fair amount of pepper, and a bit of nutmeg. I put the fillings in the pie pan (usually onions, mushrooms and, and roasted red peppers cooked until pretty dry, then sprinkled with shredded cheese) and add enough of the mixture to come up to just below the edge of the pan. This is usually the whole amount, but I occasionally have a few Tbs left over at the end. It puffs nicely and is good hot or cold.

A couple of additional tips -- cook the ingredients that are going in and make sure they are pretty dry. Do not overdo it with the cheese -- some cheeses will break in the oven and leave a greasy "slick" on the surface (maybe it is something else going on, but it seems like this is the problem). Let the quiche sit for 10-15 minutes at least before slicing. It's usually better and less runny after being chilled overnight, in my opinion.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:58 PM on September 11, 2010

I'm a huge fan of the Julia Child quiche method, especially her rule of thumb for the custard.
posted by mynameisluka at 7:10 PM on September 11, 2010

Michael Ruhlman (wrote Ratio, co-wrote the Bouchon cookbook with Thomas Keller, superduper French Laundry chefmeister) says 2 parts liquid to 1 part egg

link to MRuhlman's blog entry on quiche ratios

Maybe google specifically Thomas Keller quiche for a bunch of variations of a Really Good Recipe (you might have to scale down). They blind bake the crust beforehand as you're thinking of doing. Ppl cover the edges with foil when the edges brown early to keep from ending up with done custard/burnt crust, but I usually don't need to.

Also try to trust that at the end, even though the custard seems maybe a little too jiggly, that it will continue to set up after you pull it from the oven (hopefully you have an oven thermometer to confirm actual oven temp).
posted by tangaroo at 7:15 PM on September 11, 2010

The Professional Chef consistently uses 3 eggs and 12 fl oz of dairy (milk or cream, depending on the recipe).
posted by jedicus at 7:18 PM on September 11, 2010

I use a can of evaporated milk and four eggs.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:43 PM on September 11, 2010

...or was that six eggs?

You know, your egg mileage can vary. But you can't go too wrong if you follow Julia Child.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:44 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I am another 1/4c of cream per egg person. 3-4 eggs depending on how much filling; I don't have a filling-to-egg ratio. Try artichoke hearts...
posted by kmennie at 8:00 PM on September 11, 2010

would you cover the edges of the crust in tinfoil?

Assuming by 'premade' crust you mean the frozen kind from the grocery store, then yes, I recommend the tinfoil cover. The premade crusts tend to get dry and tough around the edge otherwise. Premade-but-homemade crusts may not need that kind of treatment.
posted by jedicus at 8:04 PM on September 11, 2010

My mom makes her quiche with equal parts eggs, cheese and cream. And it comes out yummy. I only know the ratios because she always marvels at how simple it is.
posted by marimeko at 8:26 PM on September 11, 2010

This is heresy but I make quiche in glass pie pans with NO crust sometimes. I do put a little oil or butter in the bottom of the pan first. Saves calories and is still yummy.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 8:36 PM on September 11, 2010

I do something similar: I wrap a spring form pan in foil, so the result can be unmolded and served whole. I've also done a crusted version in that pan. Makes for a dramatic brunch centerpiece. FWIW, I use Michael Ruhlman's "Ratio" method - twice as much dairy by weight as eggs.
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 10:48 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Crustless quiche is no heresy, it is a waistline and artery saver. A filo dough crust also saves some fat and can be great, although don't overdo the fat between the layers - spray olive oil is fast and light here. As with a regular crust, prebake.

My ratio: 1/4 lb cheese, 4 eggs, a little less than one cup milk. I use 1% milk and toss two of the egg yolks. Sometimes I use low fat cheese but if you use a good flavorful regular cheese you won't even notice the missing fat from the yolks, milk etc. Trader Joe's sells a very nice Gruyère that works well in most quiches.
posted by caddis at 5:25 AM on September 12, 2010

I prefer The Best Recipe's ratio -- approximately 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of cream, and 2 whole eggs scrambled with 2 egg yolks poured over a cup of cheese and a cup of whatever I'm using (chopped broccoli and pancetta, or chopped asparagus, etc). The latter ensure it turns out silky, not stodgy, as it would with those 2 extra egg whites.

...Then I make pavlovas with my egg whites and the other half of the pint of cream. Divine!
posted by mdiskin at 2:05 PM on September 12, 2010

I can heartily vouch for this strata recipe for a delicious quiche alternative.
posted by Jorus at 6:20 AM on September 13, 2010

I have had unhappy experiences using milk which was less than whole. I think that if you use cream, you must have a crust. Other than that, I follow the Katzen method.
posted by Riverine at 5:09 PM on September 13, 2010