Quiche Lorraine with Thousand Island Tomato and Bacon Salad

*RECIPE FROM "COOK WITH ME"*

Quiche Lorraine (p. 127)

Dough

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 large egg yolks

1 stick of chilled, cubed, and unsalted butter

2-3 tbsp. ice water

Filling

8 ounces of slab bacon cut into 1-inch-long lardons

4 large eggs

8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese

1 cup of milk

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. hot sauce

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 cups of grated Gruyère cheese

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

1. Make the dough: pulse the flour and salt in a food processor to blend. Pulse egg yolks and chilled butter until mixture is coarse crumbs. Pulse in 2 tbsp. ice water until a rough ball is formed. Cover the ball of dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400*F.

2. Roll and blind-bake the pie crust: roll the dough into a 12 inch diameter round. Press the dough into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Blind-bake for 12-15 minutes with pie weights, and then for another 10-12 minutes without pie weights. Let the crust cool completely.

3. Make the filling: cook the bacon until crispy. Add eggs, cream cheese, milk, nutmeg, salt, hot sauce, and Worcestershire to a large bowl and whisk together. Add both cheeses and 2 tbsp. of bacon fat.

4. Bake the quiche: sprinkle half of the cooked bacon on the bottom of the pie crust. Pour the filling into the crust and top with the remaining bacon. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Thousand Island Tomato and Bacon Salad (p. 180)

4 bacon strips

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/3 cup of ketchup

2 tsp. capers + 1 tbsp. of brine

2 tsp. gherkins + 1 tbsp. of brine

8 bread-and-butter pickles + 1 tbsp. of brine

3 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Ground black pepper

3 pints grape tomatoes

Salt

1 tbsp. sugar

1. Make the dressing: whisk together the mayonnaise and ketchup in a large bowl. Add capers, gherkins, pickles, brines, vinegar, and Worcestershire. Season with pepper.

2. Assemble salad: sprinkle sugar and salt over halved tomatoes. Drizzle spoonfuls of dressing over the tomatoes and crumble the crispy bacon over top.

I've always hated having to sift through endless paragraphs of writing before getting to the recipe, so I promise to always put the recipe first:)

FIRST RECIPE ON THE FOOD BLOG!!!!! This is so exciting! When I first bought the cookbook, I sifted through all of the pages and immediately started putting together dishes from the endless main and side dishes. I decided on the Quiche Lorraine because I have never made my own pastry! I have watched endless chefs on Food Network pulse the ingredients in the food processor until a smooth ball appeared. Doing it myself however, was a much tougher task. I thought it looked fantastic in the plastic wrap, and I was sure that I hadn't over mixed the ingredients. When it came time to roll out the dough, I realized that I probably should have mixed them a little more. I did not produce crimped edges and it was a patchwork crust, but I put it in the oven anyways. Making the filling was a breeze, but my pie weight ended up being another glass dish instead of anything resembling the pie weights on Food Network.

I chose the Thousand Island Tomato and Bacon Salad because I have seen both tomatoes and bacon in a quiche before. As a side salad, I thought the acidic dressing would cut the rich and creamy quiche. For an added crunch, I served the salad in iceberg lettuce cups.

The quiche and the salad were perfect together and supper was a huge hit at my house. If I were to make any changes to these recipes, I would crack fresh pepper over the tomatoes before drizzling the dressing over them. I would also mix the dough for longer so that it wasn't so tender. Maybe next time I will manage to make the crimped edges!

Next up, will be a baked item of some sort! Stay tuned friends! More yums to come!