Creamy, Cheesy, Custardy Quiche

Running through the repertoire of cheese dishes sooner or later I had to land on quiche. There were a couple extra minutes before dinner so I tossed together a crust (1 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt. 1/2 tsp baking powder, 6 TB cold butter, 1 egg, 1 TB ice water) from Nick Malgieri's (one of my favorite bakers) recipe. While the crust chilled I improvised a filling, still following Malgieri's lead. I layered chopped Jamon Serrano and shredded cheese (mozzarella and Tomme De Crayeuse) into the rolled crust along with chopped parsley and thyme and poured my custard mix of 1 cup of cream (normally I would have used half milk but we happened to have cream -- yummy), 3 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt. 1/2 tsp white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg over the top. I dotted the top of the tar with butter (about 1 1/2 tB total and popped it in the oven for 40 minutes at 375º. I'd have loved to use more of the Tomme -- trying to use up the party stores still-- but I was afraid the pungent soft French cheese might be too overpowering so I mellowed it with some creamy mozzarella. The quiche came out custardy and light.

One the side I put together a salad of dandelion greens, red onion, blood oranges (from our tree) and roasted hazelnuts with a lemon and olive oil dressing. Now that's dinner for a real man (you know I had to go there).