We took the humble bacon & cheese sammie and turn it into a silky quiche, then take it one step further with a crispy hash brown crust in this brunch recipe.
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00:00 How's it hanging everyone?
00:01 It's Justin here in the Delish Test Kitchen.
00:03 I think quiche is the ultimate way to make eggs
00:06 for a crowd and for a great brunch,
00:08 but you might be sitting here saying like,
00:10 quiche is too stuffy, too pinky up.
00:13 Well today, we're going to be taking quiche to the extreme
00:17 with this crispy hash brown crusted cheddar and bacon quiche.
00:22 This is a big name right there, but it's a big food.
00:24 It is a quiche, literally crusted with hash browns
00:28 instead of pie dough, and we are going to be putting in
00:30 scallion and melty cheddar cheese and crispy bacon.
00:34 It is gonna be really good, y'all.
00:35 Let's get started.
00:36 One of the things I love about this quiche,
00:41 other than the enormous flavors that it's gonna bring you,
00:43 is the crust.
00:44 It is zero effort in comparison to making a full pie dough,
00:48 and it's gonna start with frozen hash browns.
00:52 One of my favorite products to use while cooking
00:54 is Super Versaille, let alone do they taste amazing
00:57 just on their own, but it's gonna be amazing here.
00:59 So, we're gonna open these up,
01:01 and I'm gonna transfer them to a large bowl.
01:03 We're gonna just throw them in the microwave
01:05 for about two to three minutes until fully softened
01:08 and all the water has evaporated.
01:09 Then, to those potatoes, we're gonna be adding
01:12 a bit of cheddar cheese, some melted butter,
01:15 garlic powder, and of course, salt and pepper.
01:18 Mix that until nice and well combined.
01:20 So this quiche is built in a way
01:21 that you might not be as used to.
01:23 We're not gonna build in a pie plate.
01:24 We're gonna build into a springform pan
01:27 because it's going to have a high crust
01:29 and we're gonna need to get it out really easily.
01:31 So, whenever you're dealing with a springform pan,
01:34 I like to grease it.
01:35 Sometimes I use parchment.
01:36 I don't think that's necessary here,
01:37 but I'm just gonna use a little bit of Pam,
01:40 and then I'm going to get my potato mixture
01:42 into our prepared springform,
01:45 and you're just gonna form it up the sides.
01:47 Depending on the depth of your springform,
01:50 you may not get it all the way to the top,
01:51 but as long as you are within a quarter,
01:53 like half inch, quarter inch,
01:55 to the top of the springform, you're perfect.
01:57 If you don't mind getting your hands down and dirty like me,
01:59 you can go right in with your hands
02:00 to form it to the springform, but you can use a glass,
02:03 and in fact, I finished this one with a glass
02:05 so that I can get perfectly straight edges.
02:08 We're gonna parbake our crust for 40 minutes
02:11 in a 425 degree oven,
02:13 and we're just looking for everything
02:14 to start getting golden on the edges,
02:17 and then we can pull it so we can fill it with our mixture.
02:19 As the title suggests, the primary topping
02:23 for this quiche is going to be bacon.
02:25 I just sliced this up into little perfect lardons.
02:28 This is like eight slices or eight ounces,
02:31 so we are going to cook that in a cast iron skillet.
02:35 We're gonna start it cold at our bacon,
02:37 raise it up to like medium, medium-high heat,
02:39 and start cooking the bacon down
02:40 until it is nice and crispy and browned.
02:43 That should take probably about like six to seven minutes,
02:46 and right before the bacon is fully cooked through,
02:48 I'm gonna go ahead and add the white parts of a scallion
02:51 that I went ahead and chopped.
02:53 I love the taste of alliums and bacon together.
02:56 It works really well in general,
02:57 and especially in a quiche like this.
02:59 It works great with eggs.
03:00 Get them nice and softened, maybe like two minutes,
03:02 and then we're gonna remove everything
03:03 to a paper towel-lined plate to let it drain off.
03:05 Let's get into the primary part of our quiche,
03:08 and that is going to be our eggs.
03:09 Moisture is the enemy of quiche, right?
03:12 The more moisture you have, the soggier the crust is gonna be.
03:15 No bueno.
03:16 So we're gonna use something to counteract
03:18 the moisture of the eggs and the onion scallion
03:21 that's going in there, and that's going to be cornstarch.
03:23 Cornstarch is a thickener.
03:24 It's gonna reduce the amount of moisture
03:26 that will seep out of the eggs.
03:28 To ensure that we don't have any lumps in our mixture,
03:30 we are going to crack one egg into a bowl,
03:34 add our cornstarch, and whisk thoroughly
03:36 until there are no lumps left.
03:38 Think of this like when we create a slurry
03:40 before we add cornstarch to a sauce.
03:42 Then we're gonna add some sour cream,
03:44 which is gonna add richness and body,
03:46 some milk, and some mustard.
03:49 Now we're gonna mix that until that's combined,
03:51 and then we're gonna finish this off
03:52 with the rest of our eggs, so five more eggs going in,
03:55 and we just wanna whisk that
03:56 until there's no more noticeable white.
03:59 We have all of our disparate parts,
04:00 and now we are going to build our quiche.
04:03 First thing we're gonna do is we're gonna lay down
04:05 a layer of cheddar, then our bacon
04:07 and scallion white mixture, and the green parts
04:10 of the scallions that we cut earlier.
04:11 Putting all of our toppings at the bottom
04:13 is gonna help them to percolate
04:14 throughout the quiche as it bakes.
04:16 If we put them on top of the eggs,
04:18 it was gonna just sink to the bottom and stay down there.
04:20 So we're gonna pour our eggs over top of the crust,
04:23 and then we're gonna top everything off
04:24 with just a bit more cheddar cheese.
04:26 This is gonna bake in a preheated 375 degree oven
04:29 for about 50 minutes.
04:31 The center is gonna be just a little bit wobbly,
04:33 but it's gonna set once we remove it.
04:35 (upbeat music)
04:37 This came together so well, my mouth is watering.
04:41 I'm gonna give it a shot.
04:43 First thing I'm gonna say is a little controversial.
04:45 This is weirdly light.
04:47 Because we used more sour cream and milk than eggs,
04:49 it truly feels fluffy in those eggy parts,
04:53 and that gives away that salty, crispy,
04:55 slightly chewy bacon.
04:57 The scallion allium-y flavor comes through really well.
05:01 And of course, literally what else could you want more
05:03 than a crust made entirely of hash browns?
05:06 It's one of those things where you are like,
05:07 why isn't this how all quiches are made?
05:09 I'm literally just taking off a piece of crust right now.
05:11 That's how good it is.
05:12 You could serve this with a fruit salad
05:14 or something green maybe to balance everything out,
05:16 but honestly, what I did was just put a little drizzle
05:19 of ketchup over the top of it,
05:21 sort of to give you that breakfast sandwich angle.
05:23 I always had mine with a little hash brown
05:25 in the middle of it.
05:26 I know I have added this to my weekend brunch repertoire,
05:30 so for more easy egg recipes,
05:32 stick around here on delish.com.
05:33 (upbeat music)
05:36 (upbeat music)