I always thought that making quiche was challenging and required a lot of time and effort. I was mistaken. This delicious dish can come together quickly with a store-bought crust. Add a nice green salad, and you have lunch or dinner. It tastes fantastic, whether served warm or cold and makes a great snack. You can prepare a fancy crab quiche or a simple leek quiche; the possibilities are endless

I began making quiches about a year ago and haven’t stopped since. Here's a recipe to celebrate the arrival of spring. Fresh green asparagus and smoked salmon make this quiche a delightful treat for a sunny spring day.

I enjoy making my own crust, but when I'm not in a hurry. I have been experimenting with various recipes. The basics remain the same: butter, flour, and water, and everything must be very cold. Some recipes include an egg, a teaspoon of vinegar, or even cream cheese. Those who follow me on social media know that I'm a big fan of Jacques Pépin, and that’s where I discovered this crust recipe, which I found to be excellent. It's simple and quick to prepare.

Some important things to consider:
All ingredients must be cold for the dough. I put my flour and ice water in the fridge and partially frozen my butter. I saw recipes where even the food processor was put in the fridge. 
Bake the quiche on a baking sheet to prevent filling from overflowing into the oven. 
Always leave a little extra dough to patch up the crust after it is baked to prevent the filling from leaking into the baking sheet (it has happened to me more than once).
Don't fill the quiche up to the rim. If you have a lot of filling left over, add more halfway through the baking process. 
Enjoy this delicious quiche, warm or at room temperature. 

Ingredients:
Quiche crust:
1 cup (113g) butter
1 ½ cups (200g) flour plus more for rolling out the dough
¼ tsp salt 
¼ tsp sugar
½ cup ice water
Parchment paper
Old beans or weights to blind bake the crust 
Directions:
Cube the butter into ½-inch pieces and place them in the freezer until they are partially frozen. Refrigerate the ice water and flour. I usually do this a couple of hours before processing the dough, or overnight. Add the flour, salt, and sugar to the food processor and pulse for a few seconds. Then, add the ice-cold cubed butter and pulse about 12 times. Next, add the ice water and pulse a few times. On a floured surface, knead the dough until it forms a ball. Roll out the dough on the floured surface, turning and flipping it to prevent sticking. It looked easy when Jacques Pépin did it, but I found it more challenging. I managed to roll it over my rolling pin and place it into the tart pan. Press the dough into the pan and patch any mistakes. Keep a small ball of dough aside to repair any holes after baking the tart. Place the tart in the freezer for twenty minutes and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover the tart with parchment paper and beans, and bake it on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment paper, then bake the tart for an additional 10 minutes. Let the tart cool before adding the filling. The crust can be baked a day before.
The filling:
Ingredients:
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese 
12 spears of green Asparagus 
4 ounces smoked salmon
3 eggs
1 cup cream or half and half
¼ cup milk 
1tsp. salt 
1tsp. pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup pine nuts.
Directions 
Preheat the oven to 320 ˚degrees Fahrenheit (160 Celsius)
A  9-inch tart form with removable bottom 
To roast the pine nuts, heat a frying pan over medium heat and keep a close eye on them. They can burn easily, so be careful!
Next, rinse the asparagus and snap off about an inch from the bottom. The woody part can be tough even after cooking, so it’s best to remove it. Then, use a sharp vegetable peeler to gently peel away the outer layer from the lower half of the spear. This will remove the fibrous skin and expose the tender, pale green flesh underneath. Leave the tops untouched.
Spread the cheese evenly on the bottom of the quiche. Arrange the asparagus spears in a circular pattern atop the quiche. To make them fit, trim the ends. (See  photo) Place pieces of salmon between the asparagus. Add the trimmed ends of asparagus wherever there’s space.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until the mixture is smooth. Pour the egg mixture over the quiche. If you have extra egg filling, save it for later after the quiche has baked for at least 10 minutes, and then add it to the quiche. I had just enough filling, so I didn’t have any extra.
Sprinkle the pine nuts over the quiche and bake on a baking sheet in a preheated oven for an hour. Enjoy this delicious quiche! 
Guten Appetit!
Recipe from the many chefs before me, with a special thanks to Jaques Pèpin
The sunnycovechef.com
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I have been craving meat lately, and my husband is over the moon because it’s his favorite food group. He only needs potatoes and maybe a small side of veggies. I’m more of a veggie, potato, and gravy kind of person, with less meat. While searching for dinner ideas, I found some delicious pork loin chops at Whole Foods. I love their pork. When I was a kid, my grandpa raised pigs on our family farm in Germany. The pigs had huge stalls and spent their days outside foraging in the garden. Nowadays, they’d be called heritage pigs. I wish I could find that quality of pig meat here; it’s incredible.

Once I got home with my pork chops, I looked for a new recipe and found a good one on a German website. It had all my favorite ingredients, including a light, nicely flavored gravy. Let me tell you, it was a hit! The meat was moist and tender, and the sauce went perfectly. It was so good that I tried the same boneless chicken breast recipe. The chicken breasts turned my salad into a meal and were great on a sandwich. 

I served my pork chops with mashed celeriac root and potatoes. I will share the recipe the next time I prepare them. The reason is that I did not measure the ingredients. I still have Swiss chard in my garden, and I prepared my Swiss chard with raisins; I did not add the pine nuts to the Swiss chard. The Swiss chard with raisins made this meal complete. 
The original recipe called for Caraway seeds. You will find them quite often in German dishes like sauerkraut and sauces. I left them out, but feel free to add them. Toast 1 TBS of caraway seeds in a dry pan until they change color. Then, grind them with a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. Germans believe that caraway seeds help you digest your food. 

There are a few things to consider for this recipe. You'll need a meat thermometer to measure the temperature. The pork is done when it reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the oven, cover it, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. The chicken breasts must reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit on the thermometer. Again, allow the meat to rest for 5 to 10 minutes, and cover it to keep it warm. This recipe can be easily doubled.

Ingredients:
Recipe for two
2 boneless pork loin chops 
or 2 boneless skin-on chicken breasts
1 large red onion 
2 TBS dried marjoram
4 TBS olive oil
2 TBS butter  
1 TBS tomato paste 
½ to 1 tsp. sugar 
½ tsp. sweet paprika 
2 bay leaves 
1 ½ cup vegetable broth
Directions:
Remove pork chops from the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting. Cut the onion into quarters and then into thin strips. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat an oven-proof dish in the oven.
Slightly slice the fat edges of the pork chops and season the meat with salt, pepper, and one teaspoon of dried marjoram. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the meat on all sides for 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the heated ovenproof dish. Add one teaspoon each of butter on top of the two pork chops and finish cooking in the hot oven on the middle rack for 10 minutes or until the meat reaches the internal temperature of 145 degrees. Cover the meat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. 
I used two boneless skin-on chicken breasts and cooked them the same way I cooked the pork chops. I took them out of the oven when the internal temperature reached 165 degrees. I covered them and let them rest for another 10 minutes. These succulent chicken breasts will turn your favorite salad into a meal or make a great sandwich or snack.  I like eating them with my Romesco sauce.  
For the sauce, add 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tsp butter to the pan, add the onions, and sauté for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add 1⁄2 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp tomato paste; roast briefly. Season with salt, pepper, and a little hot paprika. Deglaze with 1½ cup of vegetable stock, add 1⁄2 tsp dried marjoram and two bay leaves, and let it cook uncovered for 5 minutes., reducing the liquid. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. If you prefer a thinner sauce, add more broth. 
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This is a recipe from Essen und Trinken
Adapted by Sonnycovechef.com

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