Those of us old enough to remember the 80s got used to the maxim: “Real men don’t eat Quiche.” Implying, of course, that REAL men are muy macho, turkey leg chomping, log splitting manly men who wouldn’t dream of having a light, creamy brunch item with a flaky crust for brunch. (“Brunch?!? What the hell is Brunch anyway!”)
Sometimes that’s true.
Even with bacon, quiche done right is almost lighter than air. That’s a positive when you’re interested in a breakfast item that won’t weigh you down for the entire day, but if you are a person (man or woman) who wants a solid core to your meal with “rib stickin’” power, quiche don’t cut it.
How do we identify a “real man”? Height? Muscle strength? The size of his….bank account?
Real men are self aware, and not afraid to admit when they are wrong.
Real men talk drunk bullies out of fighting, instead of leading with their fists.
Real men put up with the irrational fears of their spouse, even if it means rousting him out of bed two hours before he has to get up.
They may not notice a new haircut, new shoes or outfit, but they notice the strain in her voice, furrow of her brow and heavy sigh for “no reason”.
They kill wasps, fix electronics and hug extra hard at the end of those tough days.
And when the strain is real, and it’s one of those days, they can surprise the hell out of you.
The day had included phone call after phone call, delayed paperwork, miscommunications, errors requiring paperwork having to be re-created, deals falling apart. Finally the day ends and you pull on your trusty yoga pants and slippers. Still have about 2 hours of work left. But the dishes are stacking up on the kitchen counter and the cats need to be fed. The husband is watching TRON. *sigh*
Sitting down to finish the rest of the days work at 6 p.m. you realize you had forgotten to deliver a birthday gift to a client who lives nearby. Crap. Back upstairs to change clothes back into professional attire. Oh good, one of the cats puked and the RoboVac is on its way. Clean that up, change clothes, drop off gift, come back, change back into yoga pants and slippers. Still barely speaking to husband because “he just doesn’t understand.” Finish computer work at 9 p.m. and quietly and sullenly fall dead tired into bed.
The next day you come home from the office to find your Real Man pulling two kinds of meat off the smoker to provide supper and take care of you—because you had a tough day.
Thanks for noticing, Babe. Happy Anniversary. I love you.
Here’s your quiche.
“She believed she could and she almost did. But then a pandemic hit and someone asked her to do double the amount of work with the same amount of hours in the day, and someone else asked her to be the best version of herself while running on fumes, and she lost track of realistic expectations until she heard all the women talking, realized she wasn’t alone, poured another cup of coffee and decided her best was enough.”
Leek and Goat Cheese Quiche
Equipment
- Food processor
- Pie Plate (9 inch)
- Ceramic Pie Weights (or uncooked beans to weight down the crust as it pre-bakes)
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Pie Dough for Prebaked Pie Shell
- 1¼ cups Unbleached all purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface I've used both bleached and unbleached and it really doesn't seem to make much difference.
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp vegetable shortening, chilled
- 4 tbsp (1/2 stick)- cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces Again, I've used salted and unsalted and in this case it doesn't really seem to make a difference.
- 4 – 5 tbsp ice water
Leek and Goat Cheese Quiche
- 2 medium leeks, washed thoroughly and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 cups)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter Unsalted vs. salted? Tomato, Tomahto.
- 2 lg eggs PLUS 2 yolks
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 oz mild goat cheese, broken into 1/2 – inch pieces
Instructions
Pie Dough
- Process the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add the shortening and process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds.
- Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about ten 1-second pulses. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl.
- Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. With a rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix. Press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if the dough will not come together.
- Flatten the dough into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days before rolling.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable). Following the illustrations in the photos, roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap to a 12-inch circle.
- Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate by rolling the dough around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pan. Working around the circumference of the pie plate, ease the dough into the pan corners by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while gently pressing it into the pan bottom with the other hand.
- Trim the dough edges to extend about 1/2 inch beyond the rim of the pan. Fold the overhang under itself; flute the dough or press the times of a fork against the dough to flatten it against the rim of the pie plate. Refrigerate the dough-lined pie plate until firm, about 40 minutes, then freeze until very cold, about 20 minutes.
- Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 375° degrees. Remove the dough-lined pie plate from the freezer, press a doubled 12-inch piece of heavy-duty foil inside the pie shell, and fold the edges of the foil to shield the fluted edge; distribute 2 cups ceramic or metal pie weights over the foil. Bake, leaving the foil and weights over the foil. Bake, leaving the foil and weights in place until the dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 tp 30 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights by gathering the corners of the foil and pulling up and out. For a partially baked crust, continue baking until light golden brown, 5 – 6 minutes.
The Quiche
- Heat the oven to 375° degrees. Follow the directions for partially baking the pie shell until light golden brown. Remove the pie shell from the oven but do not turn off the oven.
- Meanwhile, saute the white parts of the leeks in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat until soft, 5 – 7 minutes.
- Whisk all the remaining ingredients except the cheese in a medium bowl.
- Spread the cheese and leeks evenly over the bottom of the warm pie shell and set the shell on the oven rack. Pour the custard mixture into the pie shell (it should come to about 1/2 inch below the rim of the crust).
- Bake until light golden brown, a knife blade inserted about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean, and the center feels set but soft like gelatin, 32 – 35 minutes. Transfer the quiche to a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
