Cooking with J: Double Southwestern Ham & Cheese Quiche

It’s an old, tired joke: “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche!” You can almost hear the Village People singing “Macho Man” in the background, can’t you? But after I updated my recipe file, I came up with a rejoinder to this rusty old saw: “Real men don’t eat quiche – they MAKE quiche!”

I started making quiche over ten years ago, when I saw a lead-pencil-simple recipe in the Food section of the T-U. The end result was good, but it was extremely bland. (Mind you, this is coming from someone who puts sriracha on his Cinnamon Chex in the morning.) It was also surprisingly heavy, and the suggested proteins didn’t improve things at all.

Off I went into my basement lab to pound on the recipe, which also ran into the same problem people looking to grill hot dogs have with unbalanced bags of buns: You can only get ready-made deep-dish pie pans in bunches of two – and putting one of the pans back in the freezer sounds like an easy solution, but it was actually a lot easier to double the recipe and make two quiches in one go. It gives big families a cool breakfast more than once a week, and the extra quiche also makes a great gift.

So let’s do this. CUE THE VILLAGE PEOPLE!

DOUBLE SOUTHWESTERN HAM & CHEESE QUICHE

• 2 deep-dish pie pans
• 8 eggs
• 4-6 slices Black Forest Ham
• Any ham will do, but Black Forest provides the best flavor
• 1 pint Half & Half
• 2 medium shallots, diced
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground Harissa
• 2 cups shredded Colby Jack
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar blend
• I prefer Price Chopper Mexican blend, but You Do You

Preheat oven to 375

Put the two pie plans on a large cookie sheet in order to minimize spillage

Add eggs, Half & Half, ground pepper, cinnamon, and chili powder to a large mixing bowl. Wisk until eggs are completely beaten and spices are integrated.

Split the Colby Jack between the two pie plans, making sure the cheese makes a smooth “floor”

Place two slices of ham in each pie pan so that the ham covers the pie pan. If you get smaller slices, you might have to shred 3 slices to fill the space.

Split the diced shallots between the two pie pans

Ladle the egg mixture into the pie pans, making sure there is an equal amount in each pan

Split the Cheddar blend between the two pie plans, making sure to cover as much of the egg mixture as you can, and then sprinkle the Harissa over the two pie pans

Put the pans in the oven and bake for 40 minutes

Let rest for five minutes after bringing the pans out of the oven. Can be served immediately or placed in refrigerator for a later meal. Can be re-heated or served cold.

Share and Enjoy, campers! Bon appetit, and Stay Safe!