Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Spinach, Bacon, Cheese Quiche


This past weekend, some friends and I celebrated my cousin Stephanie's birthday at Liberty Tree on H Street NE. Afterwards we headed to Dangerously Delicious Pies for something sweet. Walking there, we were all excited. "What kind of pie are you going to get?" I thought about a slice of apple pie, or strawberry rhubarb, or a blueberry pie. My pie cravings usually happen when I watch a movie with an actor eating a slice of pie. Mel Gibson once ate a slice of blueberry pie in a movie and I've been looking for a blueberry pie that tasted as good as I imagined that one tasted.

As we were entering into Dangerously Delicious Pies, one of my friends mentioned they were going to buy an entire pie to take home and eat. Then we saw the menu and the prices. One pie....yes one....cost $30. Thirty one dollar bills. Six five dollar bills. Three ten dollar bills. Thats right...it was more than I WOULD EVER pay for a pie. But since we were there, I got a slice to give it a try ($6.50). Unfortunately, they were out of blueberry and strawberry rhubarb pie. The waitress recommended cherry since it was in season. It was tart. Dangerously delicious? I didn't think so until I finished the entire slice (that must have been 1/5 of the pie.)

Going home, I still felt insulted by the price per pie. Not only that, their quiches were going for $28. It was just wrong.

So I went home and made a quiche. It was good and easy to make...and cost me about half the price.

Spinach, Bacon, Cheese Quiche
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
Items purchased at Safeway

1 frozen pie crust - $2.40
4 eggs - $1.49 for six eggs
1 cup of cream - $2.19 per pint
1/2 lb of spinach - $1.19
1/2 large onion, diced - $1.50
4 strips of meaty bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces - $1.99 per package
1/2 cup of sharp cheddar - $1.99 per package
1/4 cup of cream cheese - $1.50 per brick
1/4 cup of chopped green onions (green part only) - $.89
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven at 375F
2. Whisk cream and eggs together and set aside.
3. Saute bacon until crispy and set aside on paper towels to drain fat
4. Saute onions until slightly caramelized and then add spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until wilted.
5. Build quiche - layer 1/2 of the onions and spinach at bottom of pie crust, spread 1/4 cup of cream cheese on top, place the other 1/2 of the onions and spinach on top, layer on crispy bacon, add cheddar cheese and top off with the green onions.
6. Pour cream and egg mixture slowly into pie crust and only until it its the top of the sides of the crust. (Do not over fill the crust; you may end up having more of the egg mixture than you need.)
7. Place pie on cookie sheet and place in middle of the oven. Bake for at least 40 minutes and when most of the egg mixture has firmed up.
8. Set aside and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Slice and Serve.

The cream cheese gives this rich quiche an even amazingly richer taste. It works really well with the eggs and the onions. If you want to make this quiche a bit lighter, you can use milk instead of cream and omit an yoke or two. The quiches are so easy to make and would be really impressive to make for guests for a summer brunch. Just call me Barefoot Contessa.

11 comments:

  1. Love that all of your prices are real. if this was on a $10 meal for 4 people, the prices would be quartered ;)

    Looks absolutely delicious. I've made something similar but w/o the crust

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  2. Makes me want quiche! This looks (& reads) delicious!

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  3. Olga - I ended up spending less because I had the eggs and bacon already but I wanted to really price it out if I was just going to the store on a whim. Looking at the picture, the cream cheese it front and center and frankly, it should be. It really makes the quiche so much more delicious.

    Olivia - I will definitely make it for you and Mike soon! Wahoo! You are getting married in less than a week! Can't wait to party!

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  4. You know, I don't think I've actually ever made quiche before? I think it always seems really intimidating to me. But this looks amazing! Perfect for an upcoming book club meeting...

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  5. Dave recently got a blueberry pie from Dangerously Delicious as a present from a friend of his who knows the owners. I would NEVER EVER buy a pie or quiche for the cost of their pies. It's unconscionable. I will say that the blueberry pie (looked like wild blueberries) we had, had a HUGE amount of blueberries that if bought retail would have been very expensive.

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  6. Angela - The quiche was SO easy to make. Its rich so a simple salad would be perfect with it (like how the french do it.)

    Anna - I remember hearing about this blueberry pie. If only they had it available when I went there, I would have bought a slice. But now it just means you and I have to make a blueberry pie together soon!

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  7. This looks really good. Makes me want some dangerously delicious quiche from Sylvie.

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  8. I was insulted by your whole post actually. I make quiches for a Cafe and it takes a lot of time. First of all, when you buy a quiche you're not getting FROZEN pie dough. For me, dough making takes about half an hour (for three). Then I have to roll the dough out and carefully form it into a pan, which takes about 10 min. Then there is the filling. How long did it take you to prepare the filling? 20 min? more? My point is TIME is MONEY and it adds up. It takes me about an hour to prepare a quiche including making the dough. (not including the time it takes to bake and package) I get paid 15 dollars an hour which I don't think is a whole lot when you consider all the money and time I spent in school. Now if you add the price of the ingredients (adding up yours comes to 15.14) it come to about $30. Now if the restaurant wants to make any money...since they pay people like me to do make the quiches, well with people like you who think time isn't worth a thing, then good luck to them!

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    2. Exactly! Time is valuable and quiche from scratch takes a lot of time!

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  9. Hi Jennica,

    Thanks for your comment. I apologize if I have offended you. I have worked in a restaurant before and understand the hard work it takes to keep a restaurant running smoothly. That being said, this post is meant for those who may not have enough money to eat out the option to make these items at home. Yes, the total cost of ingredients came to $15 but I was also left with extra ingredients that I could have used for other dishes. Therefore, the value of baking a quiche at home is more. Please don't take this reply in the wrong way. I'm just trying to give cheaper options for those who may need it or want it.

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