When trying to come up with a good quiche to serve for a Mother’s Day brunch, I spied some smoked salmon in the fridge and here you have it - an appetizer morphed into a quiche! I’ve added fresh dill because, well, dill just tastes good with salmon. But feel free to use another favorite herb if dill’s not your thing. For the filling, I followed Michael Ruhlman’s basic ratio for quiche filling, which is essentially 1/2 cup of milk or cream for every large egg. This produces a delicate, creamy custard for your quiche. If you want something sturdier, feel free to add another egg. We like it as is. In fact, when I asked if my mother or father thought it could use another egg, I got a clear “it’s perfect as it is, don’t mess with it.” High praise from those two! Do you have any particularly favorite quiche combinations? If so, please let us know about it in the comments.
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 stick, 5 ounces) butter 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons water
Filling:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 4 medium shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup) 6 ounces smoked salmon, chopped 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled 6 large eggs 2 cups milk 1 cup cream 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill 1 teaspoon lemon zest 2 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Add the water a tablespoon at a time, working it into the dough with your hands until the dough can be formed into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 1 to 2 hours. Roll out on a lightly floured clean, flat surface to 1/8-inch thickness to 1 to 2 inches wider than your pie or tart pan. Drape over the tart or pie pan and press the dough into the sides of the pan. Use a rolling pin over the top to remove the excess dough and level the dough with the top of the pan. Place in freezer for 30 minutes to an hour. If you want, at this point you can “blind bake” the frozen crust. Blind baking it will help you have a well browned crust on the bottom. I often skip this step because it takes extra time and I don’t mind having the bottom crust not browned. But, if that is what you want, then line the inside of the frozen crust with aluminum foil and fill to the top with “pie weights”, which can be beans, sugar, or rice. The weights are to keep the sides of the pie crust from sliding down when baking. Bake for 45 minutes at 350°F, then remove the weights and foil, and let cool a bit before adding the filling. (See our detailed instructions on blind baking.) Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in goat cheese. Whisk in milk, cream, dill, lemon zest, salt, and black pepper. Whisk in the shallots. Layer down the remaining salmon, and pour the remaining egg/milk/cream mixture over it. Then lower the heat to 350°F and bake until just set in the center, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.
