Southwestern quiche with hot honey

This is a sponsored post by Challenge, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Quiche may very well be the most underrated breakfast food. I don’t understand why more people don’t get jazzed about quiche. The rich, custardy filling encased in a flaky pie crust is exactly what my dreams are made of. If I was a politician, I’d run on a platform of more quiche for America.

One of the things I love about quiche is that it can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. The first quiche I fell in love with was quiche lorraine. It consists of bacon, onion, gruyere cheese, eggs, and heavy cream. It sounds simple enough, but the flavor combination is nothing short of heavenly.

Using quiche lorraine as my muse, I wanted to create a quiche recipe with both savory and sweet elements. My answer was to make a southwestern quiche with sweet corn kernels and jalapeños in the filling and hot honey drizzled on top.

I even added a little cornmeal to my pie crust recipe to bring out the corn flavor, but it’s just as easy to leave it out if you don’t have cornmeal on hand. I only use Challenge butter when making pie crust. Superior ingredients make superior products, and you can really tell a difference when making the crusts how much better Challenge butter is than its competitors.

The hot honey really takes the quiche from tasty to incredible. You can certainly buy hot honey, but it’s awfully expensive considering how easy it is to make. All you need is honey, hot sauce, vinegar, and red pepper flakes.

Even though quiche is considered a “breakfast food,” don’t let that stop you from eating quiche for lunch and dinner as well!

Southwestern quiche with hot honey

Ingredients

For the pie crust

• 1 3/8 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (40 grams) cornmeal (if you don’t have cornmeal, use an additional 40 grams flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 stick (154 grams) Challenge unsalted butter
• 4.5 Tablespoons (66 grams) cold water

For the custard

• 4 ounces bacon, medium dice
• 3 ounces sweet onion, medium dice
• 8 ounces corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
• 1 jalapeño, small dice
• 4 large eggs
• 6 fluid ounces heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup (4 ounces) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

For the hot honey

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 Tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

For the pie crust 

1. Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, and butter until pieces of butter are very small.
2. Add water to flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time and mix just until dough comes together.
3. Shape dough into disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before baking.
4. Preheat oven to 385 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Roll out dough to 12-inch circle and transfer to 9-inch pie pan. Trim and crimp edges. 
6. Line pie shel with parchment paper and pie weights.
7. Bake until edges turn pale gold in color, about 10 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and remove paper and weights. Bake an additional 5 minutes, or until bottom of crust turns light gold in color.

For the custard

1. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cook bacon over medium heat in skillet. Use slotted spoon to transfer bacon to paper-towel-lined plate. Leave fat in skillet.
3. Saute onion, corn, and jalapeno in bacon fat until onion is translucent and corn is tender, about 5 minutes.
4. In bowl, combine and whisk eggs, heavy cream, salt, and pepper.
5. Place grated cheese, bacon pieces, onion, corn, and jalapeño in pie shell. Pour egg mixture over everything.
6. Bake until quiche is just set, about 35 to 45 minutes.

For the hot honey

1. Add all ingredients to small saucepan on stove over medium heat.
2. Allow mixture to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, allow it to continue boiling for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Remove from heat and carefully pour mixture into mason jar.
4. Allow to cool completely before topping with lid.