Quiche Lorraine

Steps

1. Mix5 min
   by hand, minimally
   • flour
   • butter
   flour + 1/2 tsp salt + cold butter rubbed to pea-size flakes, then ice water just until it holds — visible butter is the point; those flakes steam apart into layers, and overworking melts them into a crust that bakes tough instead of short
2. Rest30 min
   refrigerated
   the dough, wrapped flat — the flour hydrates evenly and the gluten relaxes, which is the difference between a round that rolls out and one that springs back
3. Bake15 min
   375°F, blind, weighted
   the rolled shell in its pan, lined and weighted — custard never gets hot enough to cook raw dough beneath it, so an unbaked floor turns to wet cardboard under the filling
4. Fry6 min
   medium
   • bacon
   lardons until the fat renders and the edges crisp but the centers stay supple — fully crisped bacon reads as bits; supple lardons read as the dish
5. Whisk3 min
   just combined
   • eggs
   • heavy cream
   • nutmeg
   • black pepper
   eggs + cream + remaining salt + pepper + nutmeg, without beating in froth — foam bakes into holes at the surface, and a quiche's top should set glassy, not spongy
6. Bake32 min
   350°F, until the center barely trembles
   • Gruyère
   shell + lardons + Gruyère + custard, pulled while a two-inch circle at the center still wobbles — custard carries heat inward after the oven, and a quiche that looks done coming out is overbaked and weeping by the time it is cut
7. Rest15 min
   on a rack
   before slicing; the proteins finish setting as it cools, and a hot quiche cut early slumps out of its crust