Pie*ography Thursday II

Anne Marie at Na-Da Farm Life has started Pie*ography Thursday, what a neat idea! :)

If I could be a pie, I would want to be a quiche. Making quiche defines my current philosophy towards cooking and baking...use what you have on hand and use as many homegrown or locally grown ingredients as possible. For this basic quiche, I used our farm fresh eggs, some spicy, pepper-jack style cheese made with our goat milk and some of the milk itself. The bacon is local and came from one of the vendors at the Farmer's Market. During the late fall and early winter, I can even get locally grown onions at the Farmer's Market. The beauty of quiche is that pretty much anything goes for the filling, meat or no meat, any type of cheese or even no cheese, and any vegetables you want to include.

I have always been more of a cookie and cake person and only recently started making pies. It's only been in the last year that I even started making my own pie crust! This pie crust recipe is my absolute favorite and comes from Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Food From My Frontier." For a two-crust pie, double the ingredients.

Crust               **Click here to print this recipe**

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter. The mixture should look like large crumbs and begin to cling together in clumps. Sprinkle the cold water over the dough and with your hands, mix it in until the dough holds together. Roll out the dough two inches larger than your pie pan. Place dough in pie pan, crimp the edges and put it in the refrigerator while making the filling.

Quiche

6 to 8 slices bacon, depending on size
1 1/2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups half & half (I use half goat milk and half heavy cream)
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Chop up the bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook in a heavy skillet until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the skillet, add the onions and cook over medium low heat until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
Mix the eggs, half & half and salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the bacon, onions and cheese, stir to combine. Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell, cover lightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the quiche is set and the crust is golden brown. I put a pie shield on towards the end so the crust doesn't burn.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Serve warm or cold, either way is delicious!

So, what kind of pie are you?

Linking up with The Country Homemaker Hop, Farmgirl Friday, What I Am Eating and P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday.