Crabmeat Quiche ... A Work in Progress!

Crabmeat quiche is a dish that  I'd love to love. After all, I love crab meat. I love cheese. I love pastry crust. Put it all together and I should be enjoying the quiche experience, right? I've made quiche with crab meat a couple times before, but  it was always bland and a bit soggy, so last night I decided to play around with the recipe a bit. I used some traditional herbs that make crabcakes zing to put some heat and spice into the crabmeat, mixed a tangy Cheddar and mild cheese to put some bite into the cheesy quiche custard, and used heavy cream to give the custard real body. Celery and sweet red pepper also added their veg flavors to the crabmeat filling. It was a much more exciting quiche!

NOT that it can't stand some improvement ... so here's my tack for the next crabmeat quiche. I'm going to drain the crabmeat, add the spices to it and then toss it onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Then, I'm going to put it into a hot oven and toss it about to 'dry it out a bit more' ... that way, I can leave some of the salty juices intact and create a more concentrated crab flavor. Once it has dried a bit in the oven, I'll turn it in to the veggies and correct any seasonings.  If you choose to make this quiche soon, consider what I've just proposed and let me know if you like the flavors.

In the meantime, here's what I got -

Crabmeat Quiche

Crust Ingredients:

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 c. plus 2 tbsp. Crisco shortening
7 tbsp. ice water

Crabmeat Filling:

1 small onion, small dice
1 large stalk celery, small dice
1 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 lb. cooked crabmeat, claws and chunk - picked over and well-drained
1/8 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/4 tsp. hot chili garlic sauce
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 small sweet red pepper, small dice
3 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
kosher salt and black pepper
1 c. grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese

Making the Quiche:

1. Make the crust by whisking together the flour and salt in a deep bowl.

2. Cut in the Crisco shortening until the dough resembles a coarse meal.

3. Add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing the mixture with a fork to incorporate the water.

4. When the dough holds together with just a bit of flour left in the bottom of the bowl, use your hands to gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about 1 hour.

5. Make the crabmeat filling while the dough chills, by draining the crabmeat in a colander, pressing the crab to get all the water out.

6. In a non-stick fry pan, saute the onions and celery until they are shiny and the onions are beginning to become golden.

7. Place the well-drained crabmeat in a bowl and add the onions and celery, most of the sweet red pepper, 2 tbsp. of the parsley, and the spices.

8. Toss the crab lightly, trying not to break up all of the chunks.

9. Leave the crabmeat filling to sit a bit to let the spices work.

10. In another bowl, combine the eggs and cream and pinches of kosher salt and black pepper.

11. Grate the cheeses and toss them together to combine.

12. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll the chilled dough into a large circle and place it into a large quiche pan (12 inch). Crimp the crust prettily, line the bottom with foil and pie weights, and bake in a 400 degree F oven for 15 minutes.

13. Remove the foil and pie weights and bake for 3 minutes more.

14. Remove the crust from the oven and place the crabmeat filling in the bottom of the quiche.

15. Lay the cheese over top, pour the egg mixture over all, sprinkle the reserved red pepper pieces and the last tablespoon of parsley over all, sprinkle on a bit of black pepper and kosher salt.

16. Bake the quiche in the middle of the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then, lower the heat to 375 degrees F and continue baking for another 35 minutes.

17. Quiche is done when a knife tip inserted at the center of the quiche comes clean.

18. Serve warm with a side salad and a good wine. We had more of that date and almond salad and a really good dry Reisling. So good, so good, so good!

Crabmeat Quiche - printer friendly

Notes: This was a really passable crabmeat quiche. Three things - The Old Bay and chili sauce seasonings really added to the flavor, enhancing the crab. Blind baking the crust, while a bit of a pain in the butt, really does produce a superior quiche crust. Getting as much moisture out of the crabmeat before putting it in the quiche shell really does cut the 'sogginess' factor way back! Yum! Crabmeat quiche, I think I have got you almost where I want you!