Can you believe it’s June already?! And you know what that means….FATHER’S DAY IS ALMOST HERE!
Do you know what you’re getting Dad?
If that question causes you to panic, grab a paper bag and hear me out…you are not alone!
I mean how many ugly ties or decorated mugs does your Dad really need? (News flash- NONE!)
Ok breathe, because Janie-Jean did a little research on what Dad’s really want for Father’s Day and it is something YOU can totally pull off…a delicious day of eating!
Now before you go calling all around town to order food for Dad stop and think to yourself “Is it possible I could create a meal or meals that satiate Dad’s appetite?!”
I am hear to say YES, YES YOU CAN! So I have took it upon myself to come up with some delightful recipes that are approachable, decadent, and oh so delicious! Today we are going to start off with breakfast! You have got to start the day off right and there is no better way to start the day than with Quiche.
I know what you’re thinking…”Girl please, quiche is more a Mother’s Day thing!”
Well watch and learn my friends because I believe that yes, Quiche can be manly and worthy of a masculine day such as Father’s Day. Especially when it’s stuffed with layers of Pulled Pork BBQ.
Think you can handle that? Let’s begin our journey with a delicately, flaky crust.
Have you heard of the book “Art of the Pie” by Kate McDermott? If you have not, go to the store and buy a copy…or if you’re cheap like me, borrow it from your local library. Seriously, this book is life changing and quite possibly the best Christmas gift I’ve ever received (and that includes the puppy I got in high school…it’s that good folks!)
If you want to up your pie making game with practical skills for several different pie doughs and fillings along with successful recipes that allow wiggle room to let your freak flag fly GET THIS BOOK! Ok, now I am going to show you how to make one of her pie doughs using my handy food processor.
The first key component in making pie dough is CONFIDENCE! If you approach your kitchen with any sort of anxiety, that emotion will transfer to our ingredients. Pie dough may seem intimidating but girlfriend let me assure you that NOTHING is impossible…YOU GOT THIS!
OK all you need to make pie dough is flour, salt, butter, water and leaf lard. If your first thought is “what the heck is leaf lard?”…let me clue ya, it’s an amazing animal fat that works wonders to develop a delicately, flaky crust. It’s awesome! I bought mine here but I have been told that butcher shops may have some to spare if you ask nicely…
Now where were we? Ah yes, now that we have our ingredients we need to get them ice cold… even your tools (the colder the better).. colder = flakier so I let my ingredients hang out in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes to an hour including my food processor bowl and blade.
Once everyone is frigidly cold, dump flour, salt, butter, and leaf lard into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse 15 times till it looks like little pea sized flakes of sand.
Add 4 tablespoons of ice water pulse 10 more times. Add 4 more tablespoons of water and pulse until the dough just begins to come together.
Pour the dough onto a floured surface and split in half. Gently press both halves into chubby discs, wrap in saran and pop in the fridge for a little rest… it’s so hard to be pie dough (insert heavy sigh)!
After an hour roll out one disc of pie dough on a lightly floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter for a 9 inch pie. Place the rolled dough into the pie plate, gently press it in and crimp the edges. Allow the pie shell to hang out in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Just enough time to prep the oven and filling.
The star of today’s quiche is pulled pork. It’s a great leftover recipe for those moments in your life when you have ample amounts of pulled pork in the fridge. This happens more often than not so I am always looking for ways to use it up. For a great pulled pork recipe the Pioneer Woman has a fantastic one.
Take about 2 cups of leftover pulled pork and dress it to your taste with your favorite barbecue sauce. Being a Cincinnati girl myself I had to use our staple, Montgomery Inn Sauce…. So good!
The other key ingredient to this quiche is the super rich sour cream custard which is the perfect companion to the pulled pork. All you need is eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, whole grain mustard and a dash of nutmeg. Hallelujah!
This custard is rich, velvety smooth with a little zing from the mustard… it’s knee buckling good.
Now that we have the two main components and a preheated oven we are ready to assemble and bake!
The layers go pulled pork, sliced scallions, extra sharp cheddar cheese, custard Bake!
The quiche will bake for about 40-45minutes in a 350 degree oven. You really want the final product to get golden brown and set in the middle. If you have to let it go longer, allow to bake in 5 minute increments till you achieve the final result you desire!
The rich custard is the perfect vehicle for the zing of the BBQ dressed pork flecked with the subtle hints of onion and sharp cheese. If brunch were a father’s day tradition, this would be a show stopping main course… heck you could eat it all day long!
But in all honesty dad deserves more doesn’t he? So be sure to tune in later this week for a smoking’ hot dish dad will give rave reviews… Loaded, Smoked Twice Baked Potatoes.
Yes, you read that right….and I’ll see you Wednesday!
Love ya!
JJ
- Pie Crust
- 2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into tablespoon size pieces
- 8 tablespoons (112 grams) rendered leaf lard, cut into tablespoon size pieces
- ½ cup ice water plus 1-2 tablespoons more as needed
- Additional flour for rolling
- Quiche filling
- 2 cups prepared pulled pork
- ½-1 cup Favorite BBQ sauce (or more depending on preference)
- 2 scallions thinly sliced
- ¾ -1 cup shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup + 2 Tbs sour cream
- ½ cup +1 Tbs heavy whipping cream
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tsp whole grain mustard
- Dash of nutmeg
- To make the pie crust: Place flour, salt and fat into the chilled bowl of the food processor. Pulse 15 times till the butter and leaf lard are worked into the flour to form crumbs the size of peas and oat flakes. Add in 4 tablespoons of ice water. Pulse 10 more times. Add 4 more tablespoons of ice water. Pulse 5 more times until the dough just starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to finish the dough off by hand, forming two equal sized “chubby discs.” Wrap well in plastic wrap then place in the fridge to rest for about an hour.
- When the dough is finished chilling in the fridge, take out one dough disc and gently roll out on a well floured surface. You’ll need to work efficiently so that the dough doesn’t get too warm. When the dough is 1 to 2 inches larger than your pie pan you’re ready to place in the pie pan or tin (whatever you have!)
- Carefully lay the pie into the pan and gently press into the pan allowing the excess pie dough to hang over the sides. Go around and trim the excess pie dough so that only about ½ “ -1” excess hangs over the edge. Take the excess and fold it under so that it is between the pie pan and the pie dough. You will want the edge of the pie to be slightly above the pan. If at this point your dough seems a bit warm or hard to work with allow to chill in the freezer for 5 minutes. Crimp the edge of the pie by taking the knuckles of your pointer and middle finger on your right hand and the tip of your thumb on the left and press keeping the dough edge in between the knuckles and allowing the tip of the thumb to press and pinch to form a crimp. Repeat till the entire pie edge is crimped. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes while you prepare the filling and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- For the filling: Dress your prepared pulled pork with your favorite BBQ sauce to your taste preference. I only used about ¾ cup but if you like it saucier then go ahead and add more. In a separate bowl prepare your custard by whisking the eggs, sour cream, cream, mustard, salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Once the pie crust has finished chilling in the freezer layer the filling in the following order: BBQ pulled pork, scallions, shredded cheddar cheese, and then pour the custard all over the filling.
- Bake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the center is set. If you need to cook longer please do until you have a golden brown top. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes so the quiche can cool and set before digging in!
- ENJOY!
Wow!! This is an AWESOME recipe. Very easy to follow and the quiche is so rich! Saving and will be using for all bbq leftovers in the future. (And for those slackers like me, I used a Pillsbury crust!)