Quiche Lorraine

This recipe is taken directly from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, which is worth every cent it cost.

Because a warm pie shell is crucial for an evenly cooked filling, proper timing is key here. Do not substitute low fat or skim milk for the whole milk in this recipe.

Serves: 6-8

1 - 9" pie shell, partially baked and still warm
4 oz. bacon (about 4 slices), chopped
1 small onion, chopped in medium-sized pieces
5 large eggs
1 c. whole milk
1 c. heavy cream
1 t. minced fresh thyme
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 t. salt
4 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded (about 1 c.)

1. After removing the partially baked pie shell from the oven, fry the bacon in a 10" skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate and pour off all but 2 t. of the fat left in the skillet. Add the onion, return to medium heat, and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Toss the onion with the crisp bacon and set aside. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, thyme, pepper, and salt.

2. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and reduce the oven temperature to 35o degrees. (The pie shell is baked at 375 degrees.) Sprinkle the cheese and then the bacon mixture evenly over the bottom of the warm pie shell. Place the pie shell [on the rack] in the oven and...carefully pour the egg mixture into the shell until it reaches about 1/2" from the top of the crust. (Depending on the depth of your pie shell, you may have some leftover egg mixture.) Bake until the top of the quiche is lightly browned and a knife inserted about 1" from the edge comes out clean, [about] 40-50 minutes. (The center should be set, but soft like gelatin.) Transfer the quiche to a baking rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes:

• I prefer to use a traditional scalloped tart pan for this as they would in Europe, but one of the reasons I like this recipe is that it is adapted to regular American pie plates if that's what you have. A tart pan is bigger around than a pie plate, but shallower and better adapted for this recipe.
  
• In France, quiche is made using lardons and creme fraiche. Lardons are like little chunks of bacon shaped like rectangular cylinders, a good bit thicker than our regular bacon slices, so I like to use a very thick-cut bacon or bacon odds and ends. Creme fraiche is very thick and tangy, sort of a mix between yoghurt and sour cream, so when I have sour cream I like to add a few generous dollops to the egg mixture for flavor or replace some cream with it.
• I might substitute 1/8-1/2 t. dried thyme for the fresh thyme, but even 1 t. dried thyme won't ruin the recipe.
  
• The recipe doesn't want to confuse the process and doesn't want the cook to forget the pie shell in the oven. Personally, I'd make the egg mixture, cook the bacon, and then put the pie shell in the oven while I was cooking the onion so the shell would be hot and ready just when the onion was finished.
  
• Finally, I don't buy whole milk, so I substitute 7/8 c. skim milk and 1/8 c. heavy cream for the whole milk, since I need heavy cream to make the recipe in the first place.