holidays & recipes: christmas breakfast buffet savory quiche

holidays & recipes: christmas breakfast buffet savory quiche We’ve shared a few sweet breakfast dishes for the Christmas breakfast buffet menu. Now, let’s add a savory dish to help balance out the buffet. A flavorful, cheesy quiche is one of the best items to serve at a buffet. Easy to make, easy to serve and a virtual kitchen sink of ingredients can be added to the egg and cream mixture. We chose to use leeks, gruyere cheese and ham. Of course, you could easily substitute those items for a more American flare by using mild onions, sharp cheddar and chopped bacon. The ingredients in this quiche are merely a suggestion. You can clean out your refrigerator and add whatever ingredients will please your palette. Just use the basic egg/cream mixture and the pie crust recipe then add anything else that you fancy. Christmas Breakfast Buffet Menu 1. Crème Brûlée French Toast Bake 2. Creamy Polenta with Honey and Blueberries 3. Dutch Baby 4. Savory Quiche 5. Baked Ham and Egg Cups (optional) Bacon or Sausage holidays & recipes: christmas breakfast buffet savory quiche
Leek and Gruyere Quiche Ingredients 1 round 9 inch pie crust (see below) 1 lb leeks (about 3 medium; white and pale green parts only) 2 tps. unsalted butter ½ lb smoked ham, chopped 1 ½ cups grated Gruyère cheese 4 large eggs 1 cup heavy cream Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2. Chill pie crust in the pie dish before baking. 3. Pre-bake pie crust 15 minutes. 4. Remove pie crust from oven and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. 5. Cut the dark green parts off the leeks. Use only the white and pale green parts of the leek. Cut lengthwise, in half, and soak in a bowl of cold water to remove any sand. 6. Drain the leeks, rinse well, drain again. Cut the leeks into small slices. 7. Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the leeks and cook on low heat until the leeks are tender. 8. Let the leeks cool completely. When they are cool mix in the gruyere cheese and the ham. 9. Whisk together eggs and heavy cream. 10. Place the leek mixture into bottom of cooled pie crust. 11. Add the egg mixture on top of the leek mixture. 12. Bake until center of filling is puffed and it looks firm. 13. Cool slightly, letting the filling set. Serve warm. Pie Crust (From Martha Stewart) Ingredients 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1 cup chilled (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water Directions 1. Make sure all your ingredients are thoroughly chilled before you begin. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl, and stir to combine. 2. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut the cold butter into the flour mixture by pressing down quickly, using as few strokes as possible. You may leave a few pea-size pieces. Add 4 tablespoons water. Gather the dough and gently press into a ball. It should come together loosely; if not, add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough in half; place each on plastic wrap. Flatten into disks. Wrap tightly; refrigerate 1 hour or overnight. 3. Remove disks from refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, press rolling pin gently all over dough to flatten it slightly. Working from the center to the edge in all directions, roll out dough into a round about 3 inches larger than the pie plate. 4. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin; lift and center it over the pie plate. Gently unroll the dough over the plate, leaving an even amount of overhang around the perimeter. Baking time depends on individual recipes.
  • rss
  • flickr
  • twitter
  • facebook

8 comments

  • December 15, 2011 at 11:43 pm //

    Looks yummy!

    • December 16, 2011 at 7:53 am //

      Thank you = )

  • December 16, 2011 at 5:00 am //

    Quiche has to be one of my favorite foods… this looks so well done with two excellent ingredient choices–leeks and gruyere!

    • December 16, 2011 at 8:00 am //

      Thank you so much Margaret!