Recipes Comfort Food Savory Pies Quiche Roasted Brussels Sprout and Gruyère Quiche 4.0 (3,549) Add your rating & review Among chef Billy Allin's favorite cold-weather recipes is this quiche, packed with cheese and quartered brussels sprouts. By Billy Allin Billy Allin F&W Star Chef » See All F&W Chef Superstars Restaurant: Cakes & Ale (Decatur, GA) Experience: Chez Panisse (Berkeley), Martini House (Napa Valley), Watershed Restaurant (Decatur) Education: California Culinary Academy (San Francisco) Who taught you how to cook? What is the most important thing you learned? I grew up in a food-centric household. My grandmother’s Italian. We’d have big family feasts. I remember eating and eating. But it was really about spending time together as a family. My mom and my grandmothers would make a spaghetti sauce, and taste it all day, both because it tasted good and to figure out what it needed—more basil, oregano, olive oil, garlic. I remember tasting, tasting, tasting and that’s what I learned from my grandmother. Christopher Lee and Kelsie Kerr were my chefs at Chez Panisse. They taught me about the importance of getting the best products. Todd Humphries at Martini House taught me to uphold consistency and quality, and to push myself out of my comfort zone. Scott Peacock taught me that simple does not mean simplistic. What’s a dish that defines your cooking style? We change the menu so often that it’s hard to say. But we love making salads. And we love our fish cookery. With both vegetables and seafood, it’s all about freshness. When you cut into a just-caught fish, you smell the ocean. And you can taste it if a vegetable isn’t grown by the right farmer. What was the first dish you ever cooked by yourself? When I was in third grade I made an English muffin with fried bologna, ham, egg and mayonnaise. The key was the fried bologna. What is your favorite cookbook of all time?Chez Panisse Cooking. I love Paul Bertolli’s food and his style. Elizabeth David’s Summer Cooking. I love how she puts aioli and homemade mayonnaise on everything. Is there a culinary skill or type of dish that you wish you were better at? I stink at cooking rice. I do not know why, but I can’t get it right. We didn’t eat a lot of rice growing up. What is the best-bang-for-the-buck ingredient, and how would you use it? This may be a boring answer, but I have to say whatever’s in season. If you even go to your grocery store, whatever’s in season will be better and cheaper. What three restaurants are you dying to go to in the next year, and why? 1. City House, in Nashville. Tandy Wilson’s become a friend and we haven’t been to his restaurant yet. He cooks with more soul than anyone, and in Nashville that’s saying something. 2. Marea, in New York, for the seafood. 3. L’Arpège, in Paris. I love the idea of cutting out most red meat to go that vegetable-heavy. Best-bang-for-the-buck food trip: Where would you go and why? Manhattan. You can easily get away with spending less if you’re open to trying new things and not going to starred restaurants. You can get inexpensive dim sum. I’m also a huge food cart advocate. I love shwarma and falafel and Asian food and pasta off a cart. If you could invent a restaurant for an imaginary project, what would it be? Something small near the beach. It would have 24 to 28 seats. It would serve almost all seafood and vegetables and maybe a little white meat. We’d only serve white wine and Champagne. If you were going to take Thomas Keller, Tony Bourdain or Mario Batali out to eat, where would it be? I’d take Thomas Keller. His brain works in an exciting way when it comes to looking at food. And he considers basic technique as important as molecular gastronomy. I would love to take him to Il Vagabondo, in New York, and just have fun and a good conversation. If you were facing an emergency, and could take only one backpack of supplies, what would you bring, and what would you make? I’d bring a super-sharp fillet knife, lots of citrus, salt and pepper, and I’d do lots of marinated fish dishes. Hopefully, I’d be somewhere near the coast. What ingredient will people be talking about in five years? Seafood, and how do we keep it sustainable and our waters clean so that generations from now all this amazing fish is still available to us. What do you eat straight out of the fridge, standing up? I love cold Chinese food. I like how it gels and it’s not really messy. In Atlanta there are good Chinese restaurants on Buford Highway. But our leftovers can be anything, including my kids’ sweet-and-sour chicken. Brown sauces seem to gel the best. What is your favorite snack? Saltines, Duke’s Mayonnaise (which is really salty) and Cabot cheddar cheese. You don’t want a very important cheese for this snack. Just something that’s good and salty. Do you have any pre- or post-shift rituals? Pre-shift I try to keep all the cooks under-stressed, because I think the food feels that, especially for the first few dishes. Post-shift, my line cooks’ average age is 27 or 28, so most of us are too old to party after service. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on December 1, 2014 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Con Poulos Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins Yield: 1 9-inch quiche Ingredients PASTRY 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup cake flour 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 6 tablespoon ice water FILLING 3/4 pound brussels sprouts, quartered 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 4 large egg yolks 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions 4 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (1 1/3 cups) Directions Make the Pastry In a food processor, pulse both flours with the salt. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle the ice water on top and pulse until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather up any crumbs and pat the dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to a 14-inch round, 1/4 inch thick. Ease the dough into a 9-inch round, 2-inch-deep cake pan; do not trim the overhanging dough. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes, until barely set. Remove the parchment and pie weights. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool on a rack. Increase the oven temperature to 425°. Make the Filling On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the brussels sprouts with the olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, tossing once, until browned and tender. Let cool, then coarsely chop. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°. In a bowl, whisk the milk with the cream, egg yolks, eggs, salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Stir in the brussels sprouts and scallions. Sprinkle the Gruyère in the crust and pour the filling on top. Set the cake pan on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake the quiche for about 11/2 hours, until set. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Using a paring knife, trim the excess crust and discard. Cut the quiche into wedges and serve. Make Ahead The quiche can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature or rewarm slightly before serving. Suggested Pairing Vibrant, full-bodied white. Rate it Print