Confessions of a Culinary Diva: Cabrales Cheese

“Quiche, I hardly know her!” is a famous line from the “Roz and the Schnoz” episode of Frasier, the line Frasier repeats to cover his rhapsodic laughter resulting from the Garretts’ banter over who was the “nosier one.” I can’t help it; I think of that line whenever I see quiche on the menu, and it makes me smile. So quiche for me is a happy food, a funny food, a side-splitting humorous food. I don’t take it too seriously and neither does it, despite the pretensions of some pseudo-French restaurants and the dreary English who take credit for creating something like it in the 14^th Century.

Two minutes to tart dough

Ready to chill

Chilled dough rolled out and ready for baking

“Gorgonzola-Apple Quiche” is this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie challenge. After a grueling weekend of shopping and cooking for my 24x24 Food Buzz event, my sous chef and I were delighted with this week’s challenge. The ingredients were on hand and the preparation is a snap. One of the beautiful things about quiche is that you can dress it up or down depending on your kitchen’s resources and your tastes. I still had some Cabrales Cheese (Cabrales is a Spanish Bleu Cheese), green apple, and pancetta left from my 24x24 Food Buzz event, and these were a perfect pairing to dress up my little quiche.

Poke a few holes in bottom before baking to release steam

While preparation is quick, don’t forget the dough for the tart crust needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours before it is rolled out and used. Otherwise, it is just a matter of how much slicing and dicing you choose to do for the filling.