My Mom used to crawl in the bed at night, after a long day of being a mail carrier, a wife and mother and exclaim “Best part of the day!” just before she drifted off to sleep. To her, it seemed like there was no greater reward that peaceful rest at the end of the day.
As a kid, I had a hard time relating to my Mom’s Ode to Bedtime. I was sure that I could have, at the very least, squeezed one more episode of The Cosby Show into my night. Nope. Bedtime was bedtime, not because there were overly strict bedtime rules, but because my Mom was just dog tired.
Nowadays I feel like I have a better understanding of my Mom’s nighttime sentiments. My head hits the pillow after a long day and I’m asleep before I can even turn the bedside lamp off… and I don’t even have little kids yet!
You were right Momma. Sometimes crawling under the covers is the best part of the day.
Other times, quiche is the best part of the day. True.
In exciting, not sleepy or quiche related news: my Mom, after over 30 years of delivering mail, retires from the Post Office… today! Holy heck Mom! Way to go! Thanks for working hard for the family all those years. I couldn’t be happier for you. I hope you find a new “best part of the day”. For reals, I love you Mom!
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Moms are important. I have a good one.
Speaking of good. Um… I should warn you about this quiche. It’s not good. It’s so crazy great you might hurt yourself! Truly. Between the puff pastry, bacon, creme fraiche and Gruyere, this quiche just about made me cry.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Creme Fraiche Quiche
The Gourmet Cookbook
3/4 pound bacon (12 slices) cut crosswise into 3/4-inch wide pieces
1 sheet frozen puff pastry ( from a 17 1/4-ounce package), thawed (I love Dufour puff pastry)
6 large eggs
2 (10-ounce) containers creme fraiche (2 1/4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup coursely grated Gruyere (about 4 ounces)
Put a baking sheet on a middle rack and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch square. Because pastry sheets are in a squares, it is easier to roll it into a larger square and then trim it into a round. Fit pastry into pie pan and trim the pastry so that just about 1/4-inch of puff pastry hangs over the sides.
Whisk eggs in a medium bowl until well combined, then whisk in creme fraiche, salt and nutmeg until just smooth. Pour filling through a fine-mesh strainer into pastry shell. Sprinkle bacon evenly over filling and top with Gruyere.
Bake quiche on heated baking sheet until center is set (it should not jiggle when shaken), 45 minutes to 1 hour. Quiche will puff up while in he oven and sink a bit once it’s out and cooled. Transfer to rack to cool to warm or room temperature.
{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
Awww! Congrats to your mama – thats so awesome!!
And I think I may make this weekend and cry :) Thanks for the warning!
OMG! So many people think I have the best job in the world yet when I dream about doing something else it is being a mail carrier. Seriously. I can’t imagine how great it would be to walk around all day by myself. Pure heaven!
I laughed to read your post because I TOO DREAM OF BEING A MAIL CARRIER. I also have a great job/career and yet….
congrats to your Momma, Joy. And thanks for the great brunch recipes. YUM
Congrats to your Mom!!!
That quiche looks amazing!
congrats to your mom…a good mom is priceless!
Hey, many thanks for a little pick me up…today I had to give away my beloved cat (my husband has crazy asthma that the cat exacerbates) but I drowned my sorrows in your homemade chocolate pudding (made with ghiradelli cocoa, an organic egg laid yesterday and some insane german chocolate that my husband dubbed “the most expensive chocolate he ever bought”) with almond whipped cream (organic cream here). I still miss my cat, but I feel a little better thanks to all that deliciousness!
Puff pastry quiche, you say? Now there’s an idea…except the puff pastry I have to attempt in the next few days is supposed to be vegan and quiche is decidedly not. Might have to try this anyway.
Incidentally, quiche was one of my mom’s specialties in the kitchen (she only had a few)! But wow, your quiche takes it to the next level. Yum! And congratulations to your mom.
Yay for your mom! She sounds quite similar to my mom–super hard worker, super dedicated to her kids, and in possession of a great appreciation for sleep. My mom calls me from the east coast most nights, and she usually sounds half asleep, but she calls me anyway, just to tell me goodnight and that she loves me. You’re right: moms are important and awesome! Speaking of awesome, that quiche is looking pretty darned good. Did you seriously just sneak all those amazing ingredients into one quiche? Wow!
Congratulations to your mom :) Can I make this with chicken instead of bacon?
i can totally relate to ur mom. i dont believe there is anything more beautiful than sleep. yes, that includes food, even ur quiche. the only thing that comes close for me is chocolate! and ginger cookies with coffee.
Go Mama; Congrats! I love me some sleep as well! She deserves it & to wake up to a breakfast in bed of your yummy quiche!
Yammy looking quiche. Very nice.
First, congratulations to your mom! I can’t wait until my parents retire. They’ve worked too hard for too long! Second, I just found your site and I absolutely love it. Third, does dufour puff pastry have hydrogenated oils in it? I’ve steered clear of puff pastry ever since I noticed all of those in my grocer’s freezer had trans fat. I can’t seem to find the ingredients on the interwebs. Where do you buy yours?
Yahoo for your mom!! The quiche looks amazing! Wish I had a slice for breakfast!
Yippee for Mom!!
This is a kick *ss dish. Love it!!
nirvana- sure! you can use chicken instead of bacon!
samantha- dufour pastry doesn’t have any hydrogenated oils in it… just butter! it’s the only store bought puff pastry i’ll use. it’s fantastic. you can find it at most high end grocery stores, and if not, ask them to carry it and see if they will! it really is the best!
I look forward to the day my Mom retires. She’s an RN in the Cath Lab and works her butt off. I will make her one of your recipes when she leaves the Cath Lab for the last time! :)
Moms are very important! Congratulations to yours on her retirement!
That quiche looks completely amazing. I will have to search for creme fraiche as I don’t recall seeing it at my grocery (not surprised about that though).
ooooo gorgeous!!! congrats to your mom on her retirement, hope she manages to fill her time with family and fun things to do before the end of each day!!
this looks amazing. quiche is one of my very favorite things to eat.
and congrats to your mom! you are right, moms are important.
Oh, happy happy joy joy. I will make this and only eat fruits and veggies all week so that when I do indulge, I can fell free to eat as much of it as possible.
Congrats to your mom!! Your pics look awesome!
joy, I think I love you.
I am the hugest fan of creme fraiche, this is perfecto.
Joy, this looks amazing. I had the most amazing quiche at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco recently and have been looking for a delicious recipe since. I am definitely giving this a shot!
Funny enough, my mom is also a retired letter carrier! So was my dad, actually. Congrats to her… what an accomplishment!
How can you make this vegetarian?
Congratulations to your mom Joy. ur quiche looks soo good ..and Dana…i would like to walk around all day by myself too n look 4ward to crawling into bed at the end of it like joy’s mom and then retire :)
This is an awesome looking quiche. Filled with just the right combination of comforty goodness too. I just found my brunch contribution for next week! Thanks for sharing!
I love how your quiche is so puffed up. I am going to make it this week. I love the story about your mom’s comment at bedtime. When I wake up in the morning and make my bed, I think to myself, I can’t wait until tonight when I can climb back in.
Kudos to your mom and all the good moms out there! You quiche looks amazing!
I love everything about this–all the bacon, the creme fraiche, the gruyere…and especially that I don’t have to make a crust. Thank you!
Awww, my mom was a mail carrier too for a number of years, and still works at the post office, and she loves her job with a passion. Quiche looks good, I should make it for her sometime. Congrats to your mom!
GREAT quiche. We just invested in a true tart/quiche tin. We began with a sweet tart, so it’s time for something savory…like this!
Oh heck, I didn’t really read the recipe. I couldn’t get over the ‘ode to Mom.’ Gee-shucks, hot-dang: Congrats to mama, and to you!… I’ll be back to read this recipe soon, but I’ve got to go and get myself a tissue. Your mama dun raised herself one good kid. It’s reflected in the way you write about the love for your mum… and it shows in every bit of respect you dollop to the lady that saw to it that the mail ‘really did go through’. Awe-shucks, I really need that tissue now.
(P.S. My FIL is a mail carrier…he’s 80, almost 81.)
Kudos to the both of ‘em…right? RIGHT! ;)
Congrats to your mom. These days 30 years at one place is unusual.
And the quiche! Oh the quiche! Must try.
I’m going to make this quiche tonight! It looks so amazing. One question: Why do you strain the ingredients? Thanks for amazing recipes and pictures!
I just made this tonight and my husband literally had 3 big slices of the quiche! Now that I made it, I understand why you need to strain it. The quiche is so light and the gruyere is such a good cheese for it. Thank you!
Long time fan of the blog. Wanted to delurk for a minute and say how much I enjoy your writing. Love the pictures and the recipes. But this story about your mom just really resonated – many thanks!
Loved the texture of this quiche – so pillowy and rich! Might have to extend my cheat day to a cheat weekend to have more tomorrow. :)
I made this today for brunch for my German host family. They don’t have ANY kind of round baking dish (no pie? no cake?!) so I used square. I didn’t measure anything (ugh metric!), but it turned out absolutely perfectly. They went nuts for it. They didn’t realize you could get quiche outside of French hotels!
I make my own creme fraiche because that stuff is impossible to find around here. I just take 20oz of the freshest heavy cream I can find and heat it to body temperature on the stove. Then I put it into a dish or plastic container with 1.5 oz of buttermilk and let it sit out on the counter over night the night before I make this. It thickens up just right and tastes fresher than the stuff I get from the specialty supermarket. This is one of my most popular recipes and everyone in my family knows I only make it for very special occasions. Happy baking everyone!
Joy- I just had to comment on this quiche. I had a dinner party and decided to go with breakfast for dinner as a theme.. the best time to eat breakfast is for dinner i must say!! Anyway, this was the crown jewel of the night, I got so many complements on this quiche and I would like to lend a thank you for making me the most popular girl on the block!!
I made this for dinner tonight. I must say that I had to stop and think whether I wanted to pay that much for the Dufour puff pastry. I decided that Joy knows what she is talking about and took the plunge. This was super easy to make. I had a huge smile on my face when I pulled out the first slice. It looked super yummy. Well, the taste was better than super yummy. I will definitely put this down as one of my go to recipes. Joy, thanks for making me look like a rock star!!
I love your blog lady.. when i am feeling blue, reading your blog is almost as good as eating something from your blog…almost.
My kids are asleep and I’m reading “Joy.” On any other day, this would be the best part of the day. But today was Mother’s Day, and I got spoiled with lots of best parts of the day — bet your mom feels the same way.
Made this on saturday for friends and husband, and OH MY!! It was SOOOO goooooood! Thanks for the recipe and all of your yummy recipes!
*love*
Made it. Ate it. Loved it.
yum. everyone loved it.
Joy:
was the purpose of preheating a baking sheet and then baking the quiche on that to help the bottom bake better? i forgot this step and did notice that the bottom of the crust was a tad underdone…and maybe the very middle of the filling as well.
anyway, definitely will make again…might add onion or spinach or something…such a great quiche.
thanks joy!
You have overcooked the quiche. I t should not be risen up like that.
I made this quiche for Christmas brunch today, and it was a big hit with my family. So flavorful and fluffy, and you really can’t go wrong with bacon! It sparked my curiosity in puff pastry, too, so I’ll be experimenting more this winter…
This will be on the menu for New Year’s Day brunch….thanks Joy!
Happy New Year!
xo
How long will this keep in the fridge? Easy to reheat? Thx!!!
this will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. and will reheat easily in the microwave.
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