Quiche Me, I'm Filipino

Speaking of magazines, I also wanted to mention that the December issue of Yummy Magazine in the Philippines features a new recipe by yours truly (and for great comedic effect, there's an accompanying picture of me as well--so I'm told).

The recipe I contributed to Yummy is a Bitter Melon and Bacon Quiche, which is pretty much my take on the classic Pinoy dish of Eggs and Ampalaya, combined with the more western Quiche Lorraine (ooh lar lar).

Mmmm. Bitter melon and bacon, together at last.

This all came to be when, a couple months back, one of the kind folks at Yummy emailed and asked me if I had any ideas for a holiday side dish. So I sent them back a long, drawn-out recipe that is now (understandably, and thankfully) a whittled down and more streamlined version of what I sent them. I gather that the editors at Yummy must frown upon unnecessary parenthetical statements and vague references to cartoons and little-known rap lyrics (I kid, I submitted only a very straight-forward recipe).

What up, home slice?

The Bitter Melon and Bacon Quiche is really easy to prepare. Just cook some chopped bacon in a pan, set the crisped bacon aside, then saute some onions, garlic, and bitter melon in the bacon fat. After the veggies are softened, throw them into a baked pie crust with the crisped bacon, some shredded Queso de Bola (Edam) cheese, and some eggs and cream. This all bakes together to form a tasty egg and cheese custard studded with a great pairing of bitter ampalaya and salty bacon.

Quiche Quiche Bang Bang

If anyone in the Philippines is interested in the exact recipe for my Bitter Melon and Bacon Quiche, please do check out the December issue of Yummy Magazine.

And although I have no idea what the finished copy looks like since I have no access to Yummy Magazine here in the states (I'm still dubious if I'm really in there), I did receive a "draft" of my recipe only a couple of days ago. The recipe printed in Yummy simply refers to using a "prepared pie crust" for the quiche, whereas I originally provided steps for actually making this crust--but this was ultimately edited out for space. As such, I figured I would at least provide the specifics for the crust recipe here.

You don't have to make your own crust for the quiche, you could just blind bake a ready-made store-bought crust in a pinch and then fill that with the custard mixture. But homemade crust is always better in my opinion.

Basic Quiche Crust

8 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ice water

Cut the butter into small cubes and place in the freezer for five minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Remove butter from freezer and add to the flour. Using a pastry cutter, or your fingers, mix the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough just comes together and can form a large ball. You may not need to use all the water.

Form the dough into a thick disk and cover with plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes before rolling out.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough for the crust until it is 10-12 inches in diameter. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges of the dough. Dock (poke holes) the bottom of the crust with a fork multiple times, then place the pie pan and dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Docking the crust

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove pie crust from the refrigerator. Place parchment paper onto the pie crust, then fill with dried beans or pie weights to keep the dough flat. Place the crust into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment paper, and continue baking the crust until it is golden, 10-12 minutes. Remove crust from oven and set aside until ready to use.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to bake the custard for the quiche.

Comments

[Manggy]

Prepared pie crust? Oh hell no! ;) Hmm, ampalaya is a tad too bitter for me... I wonder what I could sub that goes well with bacon and cheese. (I know: Macaroni! Ha ha ha.)

[caninecologne]

wow, two of my favorite foods in one dish. i love bittermelon. you are the king.

since i am so lazy, i'm just going to buy a premade crust and bake that $#!^ up! like, this weekend.

got that issue of Saveur today. I'm so glad you posted on that because I never would have known. that was a very good issue. i plan to buy a few extra copies to give as gifts to my foodie friends. :)

[joey]

I saw it! :) It was so nice to come upon it while reading the magazine!

Now bittermelon...still getting used to that...

[Katrina]

Hey, how great that you're in Yummy magazine! You should get one of your cousins to send you a copy. I haven't bought mine yet, but with both Joey and you in there, I surely will.

[Mila]

Hey Marvin, how about a magazine swap? Joey and I can't find copies of Saveur on the magazine stacks, so if you send us copies, we'll send you your Yummy :D

[Tangled Noodle]

Brilliant! I'm teaching myself how to cook Filipino food (the only way I'll get to eat it here in Minnesota) but I'd also like to fuse it with other cuisines. I'm going to look for Yummy when we land in Manila.

[Jessica Voloudakis]

Bitter melon quiche... what an interesting idea. It's pretty cool that you're in the magazine!

[Erin]

That looks wonderful! Quiche is one of my favorite tired evening dinners.

Congratulations on Yummy!

[veron]

Congratulations on the Yummy feature! Admittedly bitter melon and I have a so-called bitter past...but I have not had it in a while and I think it sounds perfect in quiche!

[Joelen]

Well, you get points from me thats for sure. I can't do bittermelon. I blame my childhood and many days of having to grow, water and help my mom take care of her ampalaya garden. That and I don't care for the texture or flavor. **shudder** However bittermelon aside, your quiche looks delicious! :)

[Julie]

For reals--homemade crusts are way better, and simple, too, once you get the hang of it. I want to use this recipe to try to trick my boyfriend into eating bitter melon. I wanted to get some last night, but when he said he wouldn't eat it, I passed it over . . . for now.

[oggi]

Wow, I love bitter melon and in a quiche, I'll definitely make this.

The hubby tried to subscribe to YUMMY for me but it would cost too much to send the mag here so I vetoed it. Where can I get a copy of the December issue?:)

[Tiffany]

Docking!! Docking!! Thats what it's called! Freaking docking... I always forget you.

[jacob's human]

Wow! You make your own crust. That's WORK. I buy mine frozen (shame on me, I know).

Bitter melon, aahhh! I remember being chased by my Nanay all around the house. She's trying to get me to eat THAT vegetable.

Now that I'm all grown up and eating healthy (I really try -- most times), she chides me for the things she had to do to get me to eat my veggies when I was a kid. Hehehe.

[_ts of [eatingclub] vancouver]

Oh cool! Congratulations!

And hey, definitely wouldn't have thought of the ampalaya and bacon quiche. Nice.

[Jude]

What I wouldn't do for a ball of queso de bola for xmas. Used to eat the red wax thinking it was edible so I ended up hating it.

[bernadette]

that is something quite daring, Marvin!---ampalaya as a quiche filling :-). I might try it! One tip to reduce the bitter taste of ampalaya is to soak the slices in water with salt. Then after about 10 minutes, squeeze the juice out of the ampalaya slices then drain the water off. We do this whenever we make fresh ampalaya salad.

[greasemonkey]

congrats! =) good things all around!

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

Love to try this, as I am a huge fan of quiche. Don't know anything about bitter melon, but I trust you. Congrats on being published, very cool!

[manju]

Very cool take on 2 classic recipes. The quiche looks great, and I'm not even a fan of the bitter melon. And just think, by the next time you're in the P.I., you could be the next Jamie Oliver! ; )

[Burnt Lumpia]

I'm not surprised that you would be against prepared pie crust, manggy;)

Hi caninecologne. If you like bittermelon, you will definitely enjoy this recipe.

Bitter melon ain't so bad, joey:) And I wish I could see your recipes in the same issue as well. It's good to know I'm in good company.

Thanks Katrina, and yes, I am having a copy sent to me sooner or later.

I'd be glad to send you and joey each a copy of Saveur, mila. But I get the feeling that you will have found it before the copies I send reach you.

Hi Tangled Noodle. Yes, do look for it when you get to the Philippines. I'm sure it's full of recipes you can bring back to Minnesota.

Thanks Jessica!

Thanks Erin. And yes, quiche is definitely easy to prepare for a tired evening.

Hi Veron. Maybe after all this time you will find that you like bittermelon.

Thanks joelen. Bitter melon is definitely an acquired taste.

Do give it a try, julie. I think it goes well in this quiche and maybe your boyfriend won't notice it;)

Hi oggi. Unfortunately, Yummy is only available in the Philippines as far as I know. So we are both in the dark:)

Yes, tiffany, poking holes in the crust is called docking.

Hi jacob. There's nothing wrong with buying the crust, that's perfectly fine!

Thanks TS.

Queso de bola has become one of my new favorite cheeses, jude.

Thanks for the tip, bernadette. Though I admit that I love the bitter taste of bitter melon, so I usually avoid any tricks to take that flavor away. I'm a weirdo;)

Thanks very much, greasemonkey.

Hi Lori Lynn. Bitter melon is a very, very bitter gourd vegetable that can be found in Asian markets. It's definitely an acquired taste.

Thanks manju, but I highly doubt that:)

[Cynthia]

I would have loved to read it.

[[eatingclub] vancouver]

Love this take on quiche. Quite brilliant using the ampalaya with bacon. Brilliant, I say!

[Burnt Lumpia]

Thanks Cynthia.

Hi js. Bacon and ampalaya go quite well together, I think.

[Wandering Chopsticks]

I'm so late to this one, but just wanted to say congratulations! A great take on an old recipe. VNese eat bitter melon with eggs too. :) Alas, I am in the can't eat it b/c it's too bitter camp. :(

[09287583613]

Pwd Poh ba Maka Pag Paturo Kung paaNo Poh Kyo naka gawa Nyang AmpalaYA Pie??

MasaRap POh Ba??