I think that one of the secrets of adulthood is that once you have found a good recipe for something, you just stick with it.
If I want to make a potato salad, I always make the one in my chum Alastair Hendy’s Home Cook cookbook.
If I have a yearning for cauliflower cheese it’ll always be Rosie Lovell’s from Spooning With Rosie.
Quiche? It’s this one by Anne.
Anne scrabbling….
I’ve made this quiche several times for the Muswell Hill Horticultural Society Show cookery contest. I won a second prize for it in 2015, second prize with it in 2016 and (drum roll please) a FIRST PRIZE for it this year (not sure what happened in 2017!).
I’ve been tweaking the recipe slightly each time I make it, so here’s the latest version with my notes.
Anne Baxter’s Genuine Swiss Quiche
1 pie crust for 9-inch pie
8 oz Switzerland swiss cheese thinly sliced or grated
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sweet cream
4 eggs, well beaten
1 cup onions, sliced
3 slices bacon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a quiche dish and line with the pastry. Use fork to make holes in the pastry. Cover the pastry with waxed paper or foil, weighed down with dried beans. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove crust from the oven and discard the paper covering.* Fry the bacon until crisp, remove the bacon and allow to drain on paper towelling. Saute the onions in the bacon fat until transparent, do not brown. Pour the contents of the pan into top of pastry. Beat the eggs well and add the milk and cream and beat. Add the seasonings and beat until well blended. Distribute the cheese evenly over the onions and then pour in the beaten mixture. Crumble the bacon and distribute over the top. Put back into oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Test by inserting knife, if it comes out clean the pie is finished.
- I use Gruyere, and I cube it rather than slicing or grating it.
- I usually pop the unfilled pie crust back into the oven for a minute or two after taking out the baking beans. This avoids a soggy bottom to your pie.
- I also bake the quiche for ten minutes without the bacon, and then pop the bacon on top, baking it for another 10 or so minutes . This means the bacon sits on top of the egg mixture and I think this makes the quiche look particularly appetising.
- I have no idea where the flour comes in. I checked Anne’s original recipe and it’s definitely listed in the ingredients, but not in the method. I don’t feel it’s needed (I guess it’s to thicken the filling but I use double cream and I think it is thick enough).
- I use Pancetta rather than bacon
- I use full fat milk
- I use white onions rather than red
Note to self for next time. Roll pastry THINNER and use a little more filling. There is always some of Anne’s filling left over when I make this quiche as I’m a bit nervous of filling the tart too high and the filling spilling over and onto the oven floor, but I felt the ratio of pastry to filling this time was a little off. Still, I won FIRST! Thanks Anne, I love your recipe and the scene in All About Eve where you rip your wig is my favourite movie moment EVER!
Looks YUMMY, I happen to have some “Switzerland Swiss cheese” in the fridge (leftover from a Reuben sandwich craving last week), so I’m making this tonight!
Congrats on your first place ranking!
BTW…the flour in most quiche recipes that I’ve seen, gets tossed with whatever mix-ins your adding…yes, I think you’re correct in assuming it’s a thickener, but it’s often explained away as a way of keeping all your cheeses and veggies suspended within the egg custard filling…so everything doesn’t sink to the bottom or float to the top. Not so sure it really works, but I usually follow the rule anyway…
Also btw…that Reuben sandwich craving took me 2 weeks to satisfy the urge…waiting on sauerkraut to ferment! It was worth it though!
Ahhhh that makes sense (about the flour) – I’m going to try it next time. SEND ME PIX OF YOUR QUICHE! I wonder if there are any links between Anne Baxter and James Dean?
Ooooh, I’d forgotten about Reuben sandwiches and I have sauerkraut in my fridge just waiting to be used up!
I am on a bit of a diet binge at the moment but maybe I will wreck it all with a Reuben!