Categories: Food & Wine

Quiche: Basic Tips & Recipe Ideas for Making Quiche

Recently I was asked to teach a cooking class for teen girls. I realized that these young ladies would soon be living and cooking on their own. Although I eventually blossomed in the kitchen, I was a very late bloomer as a cook. When I first lived on my own, I often dined on Oodles of Noodles and pizza delivery. I asked myself, if I had to send my daughter out with only one recipe, what would I choose?

I was looking for something that would be healthy and relatively inexpensive. I also wanted a recipe that was flexible enough to utilize leftovers and their favorite on hand ingredients. One of the attractions of pizza is that everyone can choose toppings they enjoy most.

I soon realized that quiche would fit the bill perfectly. It’s main ingredient, eggs, are inexpensive and a great source of protein. One of the benefits of quiche is that it can be enjoyed for enjoyed for breakfast, brunch, lunch or supper. Not only is quiche great as a leftover, it can utilize leftovers and little bits of this and that on hand. I designed the class to teach the teens “Quiche Basics” and to open their minds to the possibilities of flavors and textures that could be incorporated into their own quiche creations.

Teaching quiche making offered an opportunity to share an egg adding tip that will be beneficial whether they are making quiche, omelets or even cakes. I myself learned this lesson the hard way. Six eggs into a pound cake batter, I release a “bad egg” that made all of the ingredients unusable. I shared the tip of cracking eggs into a separate bowl one at a time to inspect before adding to their larger mixing bowl.

The class participants ranged from accomplished eclair makers to those who weren’t sure how to turn off the oven. None of these young ladies had ever heard the egg tip. That’s one of the things about sharing cooking with juniors; never take the simple things you know about cooking for granted. Talk through why you do each step the way you do it.

After we had made our quiche bases, the young ladies personalized their quiches with fresh herbs, cheeses, vegetables and some with meats. I even included pepperoni to try to convert some pizza lovers.

I was really impressed with their willingness to try new things. They were pleasantly surprised by what fresh rosemary added to the palette. I encouraged them to try it in their scrambled eggs as well.

After dining on their own designs, these young cooks left with their first quiche leftovers and a copy of my favorite Quiche Basics recipe as well as Quiche Ideas. I encouraged them to come up with their own favorites. My absolute favorite is sausage, zucchini and Swiss.

On my desk sits a framed proverb given to me by one of my first students sixteen years ago. It reads “Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.” Consider teaching a young person to make a quiche or one of your favorites and you’ll offer them a lifetime gift.

Quiche Basics

10″ pie crust
4 eggs
1 cup of milk
½ cup of heavy cream
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Fresh herbs, usually rosemary or oregano