Diann's Quiche Lorraine

This is a recipe that my mom, Diann, use to make when I was a kid. What I like best about it is that I can use non-fat milk with it, and the egg/milk/cheese mixture still sets. It's such a versatile dish...you can add just about any meat or veggie. In the version below, we've used bacon for 2/3 of it, and left the last third plain for Katie.

Diann’s Quiche Lorraine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sprinkle 3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese on bottom of deep dish pie shell*

Mix together:
4 eggs
3/4 C shredded Swiss cheese
1 3/4 C skim milk
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
8 strips crumbled bacon

Pour mixture into the pie shell. Bake 50 minutes or until custard is set, and a knife comes out clean.

Note: I always put a cookie sheet under my pie pan to catch drips!

*The Best Pie Dough
Cook's Illustrated
Double Crust 10-inch Regular or 9-inch Deep-Dish

When rolling out the dough, roll to a thickness of about 1/8-inch thick (about the thickness of two quarters).

For a double-crust 10-inch regular pie
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
13 tablespoons unsalted butter , cold, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
7 tablespoons vegetable shortening , chilled
4 - 5 tablespoons ice water

1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, tossing to coat butter with some flour. cut butter into flour with five 1-second pulses. Add shortening and continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal with butter bits no larger than small peas, about four more 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of ice water over mixture. With blade of rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if dough will not come together. Shape dough into two balls with your hands, one slightly larger than the other. Flatten into 4-inch-wide disks. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling.

A handy trick: I had trouble lifting the bottom crust up and placing it in the pie pan. It kept breaking apart. So, I rolled it out on a Tupperware pastry sheet, set the pie pan (upside down) centered on the crust, and with the help of my husband, carefully flipped the pan/crust/pastry sheet. The crust landed nice and neat right in the pie pan!