Quiche Me, Dahling! (or Kale, Beet and Bacon Pie)

For a little over a year I've been eyeing my copy of "1080 Recipes" by Simone and Ines Ortega (Phaidon Press. NY. 2007).  

Believe it or not, but 1080 recipes makes for one big book.  Needless to say, I had no idea where to start.  I mean, there's a whole section devoted to frying eggs!  So, I put it on the bookshelf and occasionally leafed through the tome to look at the pretty illustrations or the mouthwatering photos of baked eggs, fried squid or orange sponge cake - to name a few.  But last night I decided to make a quiche and referenced a recipe from the book for inspiration.

To start, I boiled two medium sized beets, sauteed some kale in olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper and fried up some bacon.  Once the beets were boiled I peeled them and sliced them on the thin side.  

I forgot to take a photo of the bacon...here's some bacon to ease your mind:

From http://blogchef.net/category/how-to/

For the dough, I mostly used the Ortegas' recipe: 

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

8 tbsps (i.e., one stick) butter cut into cubes (the book suggests 6 1/2, but isn't butter always better?!)

1 egg yolk

2 tbsps heavy cream (my addition)

1 tbsp sunflower oil (I used vegetable oil since I had it in the house)

salt

1 1/4 c water

This is pretty much your typical dough.  Sift the flour, add the butter, salt and other emollient liquids (egg, oil) until the flour resembles crumbly sand.  Then slowly add the water until you've got yourself a mound of dough.  I used a mixer, but you can use your hands if you like. Most bakers will tell you to let the dough sit in a cool spot for 20 minutes.  But I won't because I'm impatient.  That and I can't really taste a difference when I let it sit and when I don't.

Briefly cook the dough before adding the filling. First roll it out, place it in a pie pan and trim any excess dough.  You can also crimp the edges for a pretty look. Then, line the dough with the thinly sliced beets and some fried bacon crumbles. Set your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.  

Now for the filling:

4 eggs

1 c. heavy cream

3/4 c. milk

salt

sauteed kale with garlic

Once you remove the dough from the oven, preheat the oven to 425.  Now, beat the eggs, cream, milk, and salt.  Add the kale to the pie pan and pour the egg mixture over the top. Garnish with the remaining beet slices.  Bake the pie in the 425 degree oven for 20 minutes.  After that, lower the heat to 350 and bake until the egg is cooked and the crust is golden brown about 15-20 minutes more.

Then eat and enjoy!