Paleo Bloom Quiche

“I’m not kidding you; I’m not. Someone is going to publish your book. Someone is going to read your book, and realize what you’ve done. Because YOUR BOOK is amazing. YOUR BOOK is a work of genius. YOUR BOOK is going to change the world.” said Paul Child to his beloved wife, Julia Child. Paul’s words were irrefutable. Mastering the Art of French Cooking has revolutionized the culinary world. Not only in the commercial kitchens, but in home kitchens, network television and entertainment. I have said this numerous times, Julia Child was way ahead of her time. I idolize her. One of Julia’s favorite recipes is quiche. This week, I’m dedicating a recipe to Julia Child, by making my Paleo Bloom Quiche.

What is a Paleo Bloom Quiche? Well, it has zero relation to Quiche Lorraine from Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. I had no idea what Bloom County was until about 5 minutes ago. The coincidence is mind blowing but to answer your question, Bloom is a mash up of words; Bacon, leek and mushrooms. The Paleo Bloom Quiche is a bacon, leek and mushroom quiche. But who likes to type all of that when we can just shorten it to bloom? On top of everything, it is spring time! When all life is “blooming.” So that’s the name I decided on. Julia is probably gator rolling in her grave because I’m not making a quiche out of gluten-y flour. Hey, at least I didn’t cheat and used store bought pastry. That might actually raise her from the dead to chase me down with a rolling pin!

Crust:

¾ Cup – Otto’s Natural Cassava Flour

½ Cup – Nut Meal (I used Cashew)

¼ Cup – Gold Nugget Ghee (Chilled)

1 Tbsp – Raw Honey

2 – Pasture Raised Eggs

2 Tsp – Fresh Chives (Finely Diced)

½ Tsp – Garlic Powder

¼ Tsp – Salt

Filling:

5 Slices – Thick Cut Bacon (Diced)

10 – Button Mushrooms (Sliced)

1 – Medium Shallot (Diced)

4 Cloves – Garlic (Minced)

1 Stalk – Leek¹ (Julienned)

1 Tsp – Fresh Thyme

5 – Pasture Raised Eggs

¼ Cup – Nut Milk

2 Tbsp – Kasandrinos Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ Tsp – Fresh Ground Pepper

1 Tsp – Salt

Optional:

3 Slices – Grass-Fed Smoked Gouda (Diced)

Note ¹: Use only the whites and light green parts.

Yup, we are talking ingredients. If you have followed my blog (thank you!), you will notice that I love my ingredients. This week, everything is very straight forward. Use the freshest ingredients you can find. I would push for fresh thyme and chives unless you absolutely cannot find them anywhere. Do NOT cheap out on your bacon. A lot of the flavor of the Paleo Bloom Quiche comes from the bacon. Use a nice leaner and smokey bacon. If you want, you can even use wild boar bacon. The good thing about a quiche is that it can be personalized to your liking. A fun fact, quiche was at one point considered an “unmanly” dish because of the lack of meat. Personally, I feel very manly digging into a slice of quiche. Let’s get started on our Paleo Bloom Quiche!

Crust Instructions:

The Crust for the Paleo Bloom Quiche is relatively easy. Sift together all of your dry ingredients along with the fresh chives. You can throw everything in a food processor and pulse it all together. But I will go through the steps of doing it by hand, since not everyone has a food processor. Shave in ¼ cup of chilled Gold Nugget Ghee and pinch it all together with the dry ingredients. You can create an even more garlicky crust if you take a little more than ¼ of ghee, brown some fresh garlic cloves, strain it, chill it and use the now garlic infused version. That’s completely optional and a bit more time consuming. Add your eggs and mix by everything by hand. The dough will start forming. Keep working the dough and allow the cassava flour to absorb the moisture. A little patience goes a long way. Always allow cassava flour dough or any mixture to sit a few minutes before adding more flour. The dough should stop sticking to your hands. If it does stick after sitting, add an extra tablespoon of cassava flour to the dough. Flour your work surface and roll the dough to about 1/8 inch thick. The slab will not transfer over in one piece but at least you have even thickness all the way through. Piece it together in your choice of tart pan. I used a dark 6-inch tart pan. Bake the crust for 8 minutes at 350ºF. While the crust is baking, let’s get started on the Paleo Bloom Quiche filling.

Filling Instructions:

In a skillet over medium heat, start cooking the bacon bits. Allow the bacon fat to render. Once the fat starts to look translucent, add in garlic and shallots. Add the mushrooms as soon as the garlic and shallots turn slightly golden brown. When the mushrooms starts to brown, add in fresh thyme and half of the leeks. Salt and pepper to taste. Strain the Paleo Bloom Quiche filling of any additional grease and spoon it into the crust evenly. If you decide to use grass-fed gouda, sprinkle it over the filling evenly. In a mixing bowl, whip together eggs, nut milk, olive oil and a ½ tsp of salt. Do not over mix the eggs. If there are any air bubbles, either skim it off or wait for it to settle before pouring it in your tart shell. Wipe any extra grease off your skillet and roast the rest of leeks over medium high heat until they are slightly charred. Take the leeks and distribute them all over the top of your quiche. Pop that beauty in at 350ºF oven for 45 minutes or until the middle is set. While you wait impatiently for the Paleo Bloom Quiche to bake, feel free to sip (or guzzle) some wine, listen to some music, maybe dance a little. Or if you must, do all of it! Is the timer beeping yet? I think so! There you have it, the Paleo Bloom Quiche is ready for devouring! I hope you enjoyed my recipe and until next time, eat up my friends!

Paleo Bloom Quiche