Mort's Quiche

* Exported from MasterCook *

Mort's Quiche

Recipe By : Mortzco
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Quiche

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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MORT'S QUICHE -- See below:

The quiche is composed of three elements: pastry, custard and filling. The
filling takes the most time and while its bubbling away you can prepare the
other stuff. The following is for a 10-11" quiche ring pan. Be sure to use a
ring pan, the pastry tends to burn if cooked in a pie pan (it'll taste fine,
but looks like hell).

THE FILLING:
The filling is composed of three components. Two are cooked (mushrooms and
onions), one ( sharp cheddar cheese) is not.
The green onions and the mushrooms are cooked in separate pans and then
combined later.
Clarify a quarter pound of butter. Put about 3/4ths of it into a large
frying pan for the mushrooms and the rest in a smaller frying pan for the
onions. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the butter and add about a tablespoon
for the mushrooms, and about a teaspoon for the onions, of the following (I
just pour the stuff from the bottle into the pan):
Worchester sauce
Soy sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Then shake a liberal amount ( I'd guess this to be about 1/2 and 1/4
teaspoon, respectively) of CINNAMON (now don't falter here) into each pan.
Turn the heat to high and put the mushrooms and onions in their respective
pans. You'll need a lot of both because you REALLY cook this stuff down.

THE MUSHROOMS:
You'll need one big plastic bag of mushrooms (about soccer ball sized)
finely sliced. They'll form a mountain in the pan and some will probably
slide off onto the stove. Just keep throwing the 'shrooms in the pan and
stir with a wooden fork when possible. Cook until they are very brown and
caramelized.
You really want to get the moisture out of them. You'll be surprised how
much they reconstitute after baking.

THE ONIONS:
You'll like the onions because you get to share a beer with them. You'll
need about six bunches of medium-sized green onions. Chop into 1/8 " slices
all the way back to the chive portion. Cut and reserve a cup of the chives
for later garnishing. Brown the onions until they are almost burnt on high
heat.
Then pour a half of a beer in the pan (pour other half down yourself) and
cover for about 5 minutes. Uncover and reduce onions until caramelized.
Combine with mushrooms and mix thoroughly for a few minutes. Let this stuff
cool while you prepare the pastry and custard.

THE PASTRY:
This pastry is pretty fragile. Don't freak out if it tears. You can patch it
with egg whites and dough, so don't sweat it.
1 cup flour
1/4 lb butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 egg yokes (reserve egg whites)
A little milk as kneaded(excuse me)
Put flour in medium sized bowl. Make a dent in the middle and put in eggs
yolks. Slice up butter and drop it in. Throw in the brown sugar and dive in.
Use one hand, octopus style. Hold off on the milk until the dough is pretty
well kneaded. Sometimes I don't use any. When you've got a good ball formed,
toss it back and forth and compress between your hands. This warms up the
dough and makes it a little easier to roll. Coat well with flour. Make large
pile of flour on wax paper or a pastry cloth. Knead the dough into a
saucer-shaped patty and roll out slowly, using lots of flour, working from
the center. This dough will crack, so roll it a couple inches larger then
necessary. Check your size against the bottom disk of your pastry ring. Trim
dough to 1" to 1 1/2" around the disk (I use a pastry wheel, the jagged
kind). Slip the disk under the rolled dough. I place a bowl inside the ring,
set the disk with the dough on it on the bowl, and then gently lift the ring
at an angle while lifting the edge of the dough around the ring. Repair
tears with egg white and extra dough. Brush pastry with egg white. Pierce
all over with fork. Then trim pastry with sharp knife always cutting away
from center of the pan. (You do not need to grease the pastry ring. The
butter in the dough keeps it from sticking.)

THE CUSTARD:
You can use either sour cream or whipping cream or both in the custard.
You're on the home stretch now.
16 oz sour cream or whipping cream (or 8 oz of each)
4 egg yolks
1/2 pound of grated jack cheese
Pinch of nutmeg
Combine in a mixing bowl and stir it all up with a whisk.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
Really, this is worth all the trouble, so let's press on.
Cut some approximately 1/8" square rods of EXTRA SHARP cheddar cheese and
place them like spokes in the bottom of the pastry shell. Spoon in the
mushroom/onion mixture. Spoon custard over the whole shebang. Lay down some
more rods of cheddar cheese on the custard. Sprinkle on green onion chives.
Some VERY thin slices of red or white onion can be a nice touch, too.
Preheat oven to 400x. Cook for 40-50 minutes, rotating it occasionally.
It'll puff up pretty high while its cooking. Watch the center. It needs to
puff up too and brown. I've been cooking this for over fifteen years and
still chicken out sometimes and take it out before its completely done (it's
still good but a bit runny in the middle). Let cook until it's dark brown.
You won't believe how good this is.



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NOTES : This recipe has evolved over the last 15 years. It's great for
special occasions because
it is very rich and a small piece goes a long way. It's based on my opinion
that most quiches
are some what bland, combined with my tendency to favor reducing several
flavors into an
almost-pungent filling that in turn is "mellowed out" when baked in the
quiche's custard. I mention
this so you will be brave as you "apparently" abuse the ingredients in the
filling