Quiches are not a problem in this house, which is something I’m very thankful for. Geordie’s pretty much open to trying whatever culinary experiment tickles my fancy, just as long as it doesn’t have any onions, peppers, or chicken livers. So, a mushroom-shallot quiche – minus the shallot – is a go.

I love quiche. I love eggs, really, is what it is. Also, I love quiches that call for mushrooms, because I love mushrooms. I didn’t eat a lot of quiche until I started making them for myself, and I’d guess that the vast majority of them have had mushrooms. So, when this recipe was slated as the French Friday first recipe for November, I was pretty stoked.

Yes, I got excited about quiche. I can be a strange person. It’s okay; Geordie seems to love me anyway.

It starts with mushrooms. And, in Dorie’s recipe, a shallot, but those are classified as ‘onion’ in my book, and therefore have no reason to be in my kitchen. I used a little garlic instead, it being the one onion relative I can tolerate, in moderate amounts. Mushrooms and garlic went into a pan and got very cozy with each other.

Hello, my beautiful little fungi.

I set those aside to cool and fetched my par-baked and cooled quiche crust. The mushrooms made a base in the crust. At this point, I wished I’d used more mushrooms, but I find that’s something I always wish whenever I cook with mushrooms, so I’m used to that.

I cannot begin to count the number of pie/tart/quiche crusts I have made, but this is the first one that hasn’t turned out quite the way I wanted it. Can you see what’s happened here?

Hands down the ugliest pie crust I have ever made. It should get a medal.

I knew as I was making the pie crust that it was too short and that it was going to shrink, but I was working on a specific timeframe and also I hate rolling out dough for excessive periods of time. So I went ahead and used it despite its shortness. And, of course it shrank and pulled away from the sides of the pie plate. And, when I poured in the custard part of the quiche, it leaked through the crust and snuck into the crevice between plate and crust.

Oops.

Fortunately, this had no effect on taste. It looks pretty terrible, but honestly, presentation is usually not a great concern of mine. I’m presenting to Geordie, who is pretty lenient when it comes to critiquing food. He probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t told him. Or he would have thought it was supposed to be that way.

The custard gets poured over top the mushrooms, followed by a sprinkling of Gruyere cheese, which is pretty quickly becoming one of my favorite cheeses of all time. Really, it’s a no-brainer that I would love quiche: eggs + pie crust + as many mushrooms as I want + cheese. This is all I need in life.

Unbaked, with custard going in places it shouldn’t be going.

All baked up in a neat little package. Well done, quiche!

The custard clearly went out of its boundaries here. I fretted about it. But then I was thankful that I didn’t have a proper fluted tart pan with removable sides, because that probably would have made a mess. The quiche was going to be well-cooled by the time I cut into, so at least I wouldn’t have to worry about quiche going everywhere. Another thing I love about quiche: it’s quite tidy. Pies can be messy affairs, but not quiche. It keeps itself together.

A bit on the thin side, but definitely looking good enough to eat.

I don’t typically serve anything with quiche. I am not a salad person, and I don’t quite see the point of making a whole soup to go with a whole quiche. I sliced up some bread, put some butter on the table, and called that a side dish. It was a light dinner, which is what I wanted. That’s what quiche is great for, in my opinion. It’s also great for leftovers the next day (and the day after, as well, considering how much was left of it).

Would I make it again? Yeah, sure, absolutely. We eat quiche at least once a month, so I don’t see any reason not to. The filling itself is pretty simple and adaptable; it’s the crust I’d like to perfect and use over and over again. Even though it didn’t cooperate entirely, I did like this crust. It had a put-together quality to it, rather than my usual thrown-together, slap-dash pie crust. Clearly, I need to work with it a little more, give it some attention, and see if I can do better next time.

This post participates in French Fridays with Dorie, working from Dorie Greenspan’s awesome cookbook Around My French Table. Everything I have made from this book so far has been delectable. Both Geordie and I are enjoying the bounty from its pages! Go here to see how this quiche turned out for the other French Friday cooks.

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