Thursday, May 22, 2008

Broccoli And Cheddar Mini Quiche

Yes, my pretties, I know it's been a while since I've posted. It isn't because I haven't been cooking. Nor is it that I don't want to share the magic. I've just been swamped with other work and updating here has fallen by the wayside. But I'm hoping to remedy that with a flurry of posts over the next few days of tasty magical goodness I've been making since the last time I was around. Let's begin...

I've often made mini quiche over the years as finger food for various events. Usually I've done bacon, swiss, green onion and pimento or spinach, swiss and bacon. This time I needed a vegetarian option since I was making them for Jim and Amy's work-folk wedding shower, so I went with broccoli and cheddar. The nice thing about mini quiche is that once you have the basics down, you can change out the filling to suit your needs. Also, you can make these ahead of time and freeze them if need be.

Broccoli and Cheddar Mini Quiche

Pie crust for 2-crust pie (You can buy pre-packaged or make your own.)
1 cup cooked chopped broccoli (I got frozen florets to help speed things along since I was
making a ton of other food.)
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup heavy cream (You can also use half-and-half. I had heavy cream on hand so I went with it.)

1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease and flour mini muffin tins.
2- Roll out pie crust to about 1/8" thickness (or if using pre-packaged, go with it as is when all unfolded). Cut out as many 2 1/2" rounds as you can from the dough. I have a scalloped edge cookie cutter that works perfectly and gives the edges a nicely finished look. Carefully fit each round into the muffin tin.
3- Sprinkle about 1/2 to 1 tsp of the chopped broccoli into each muffin cup and top with a small amount of shredded cheese.
4- Whisk together the eggs, salt, pepper, mustard and heavy cream. I do this in a liquid measuring cup with a spout to make the next step easier. Pour the mixture into each
muffin cup until just short of the top of the crust (about 3/4 full) and sprinkle each with a bit more broccoli.
5- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set. When you go to remove these from the tins, use the edge of a knife to lift each mini quiche out as opposed to flipping the tin over.

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