Kiss me, or “quiche” me for Wine Wednesday is a little term I came up with during COVID quarantine. No one wanted to even hug me at that time, forget about kiss, or “quiche.” I know quiche is a food not an action, however, cooking one is action and a sign of affection. And during that time, cooking was about all we could do. Cook a quiche, blow an air kiss, you get the picture.
I love sharing recipes when I come across good ones. However, I really don’t have a recipe for quiche. I just have a general playbook. What I love so much about quiche is you can put almost anything you want in one. Pick a cheese, pick a filling and have some fun.
Quiche tips
Good ingredients are first and foremost. Layer them in the pie shell heaviest to lightest. I published a story about this during the pandemic and interviewed a couple of chefs for inspiration. One of the best tips is, when choosing your veggies, think of ones that go with eggs. Perhaps ones you might use in an omelette. I typically use four eggs and a full cup of heavy cream. Allthough I’ve experimented with goat cheese, mozzarella and more, Swiss seems to work and taste best. I get a block of it and shred it myself.
Pairing wine with quiche
The first thing I think of is the richness of a quiche. You typically have a good amount of fat with the cream, eggs and cheese.
The next thing to consider is the ingredients. Since you can literally put almost anything in a quiche, consider the other flavor components. For instance, is it salty with maybe something savory such as bacon? Or, is there any bitterness from veggies, heat from peppers? You get the idea.
Lately, my quiches have been with asparagus that has very little time left before I have to eat it or toss it. I sautéed them, threw in just a small amount of minced shallots and some chopped sundried tomatoes and wow has that been a good one. Here are some wines that went particularly well with that combo.
Quivira Rosa
This 2021 Quivira Rosé is from Wine Creek Ranch, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma. What a lovely, crisp rose, beautiful in the bottle, the glass and the palate. It had fresh red fruits and a hint of pepper. All of which were a great accompaniment to the sun-dried tomatoes. I don’t think I’ve ever had a wine from Quivira that I have not enjoyed. $25Frescobaldi, Massovivo Vermentino
Frescobaldi Tenuta Ammiraglia Massovio Vermintino is from Italy and what I found most interesting about this wine the year, 2018. The current release is 2020. A majority of white wines are best when young and fresh so I was really interested to see how this was. The extra years gave it a little more texture but it was still crisp and fruity. I thought that texture was perfect with the quiche.
The vermintino grape makes wines that are fresh and citrusy. If you like Sauvignon blanc you will like this, however, it’s not as acidic. Vermintino is perfect for Southwest Florida cuisine. Now I’m going to go out and look for a 2020. $25
Cakebread Viewfinder Sauvignon Blanc
Cakebread is another one of those wineries that just gets it right. This is a limited edition wine that you can only get from the winery and it’s pretty special.The name is inspired by winery founder Jack Cakebread. He took photos of landscapes, studying under Ansel Adams and was eventually hired to photograph the vintners of Napa Valley.
This sauv blanc has a touch of semillon in it which rounds out the acid, gives it a little more body and a touch of sweetness. It also spent a little time in neutral oak. The result is a lively wine that has notes of citrus and melon. It was near perfect with the creamy quiche and asparagus. $50
Mmmmm Quiche
