Monday, May 18, 2009

Easy Quick Quiche

I love making quiche, but I hate doing the dishes. One night while sauteing the onions and garlic in a cast iron skillet, I wondered if I could just add the meats, vegetables, egg mixture and cheese all in the same pan and bake that in the oven. It turned out beautifully, and I didn't have to wash the extra pie dish and bowl from making the crust. One if the secrets to cooking cheaply, is to make everything from scratch. This often makes the process more time consuming, and you have a lot more dishes to deal with.
This quiche uses evaporated milk instead of cream. I haven't noticed a difference in flavor or texture, and canned milk can be kept in the pantry, and is a lot cheaper.
So, here's the basics:

1 medium diced onion
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt

Melt butter and olive oil in large cast iron or steel pan. Use a pastry brush to coat the sides of the pan. This will ensure that your quiche will not stick to the sides of the pan, when you're ready to serve it. Saute onion for about two minutes. Add garlic and salt. The salt not only seasons the dish, but also helps the onions to release their juices. Saute until onion is soft and begins to turn brown. This is called carmelization, and you'll notice a big difference in flavor from the onions.

1 Cup steamed broccoli
or
10 spears of steamed asparagus

Taking the pan off the heat, arrange the vegetables evenly in the pan.

1/4 lb sliced ham
or
2-6oz or 1-12 oz can(s) of salmon (no bones or skin)

Arrange meat evenly in the pan.

In medium sized bowl, whisk 7 eggs, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg, 1-12oz can evaporated milk.
Pour mixture over top of vegetables and meat.

Place 1/4 Lbs sliced or grated Swiss cheese over top.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until center doesn't giggle when pan is shaken.
Let sit and cool for about 10 minutes before slicing.

I would have loved to post a picture, but it looks like the kids have taken off with my camera again!