Mushroom Asparagus Quiche

July approaches, and Carrie's departure for Japan is eight weeks away. The eight weeks are both eternity and instant, the paradox of time that moves differently depending on whether you are the one leaving or the one staying. For Carrie, the eight weeks are an eternity of waiting. For me, the eight weeks are an instant of having.

I have decided something: I will begin submitting the cookbook to publishers after Carrie leaves. The decision was made at the desk, at five AM, in the dark, the way all my important decisions are made: alone, early, with coffee, before the household wakes and the day demands its attention. The decision is the next step. The next step is the bravery. And the bravery is the writing, which was always the bravest thing, braver than the cooking, braver than the caregiving, braver than anything except loving a mother who is forgetting you.

Mama was lucid on Wednesday. A brief window — ten minutes — during which she looked at me and said, "Naomi, are you writing?" I said, "Yes, Mama. I'm writing a book about your recipes." She said, "Good. Somebody should." And the "somebody" was both modest (as if anyone could write the book) and specific (as if she knew the somebody was me), and the ambiguity was the sentence's beauty, and the beauty was the permission, and the permission was the mandate.

James called on Sunday. He is doing well — law review confirmed, clerking position secured for next summer, the future assembling itself with the orderly progression of a legal brief: argument, evidence, conclusion. Elise is finishing her pre-med coursework and applying to medical schools. The two of them are building parallel careers that will, I suspect, converge into a single life, and the convergence will be the next chapter, and the chapter will be theirs.

I made Mama's chicken bog — the South Carolina rice dish, the one-pot comfort, the dish from the Pee Dee that Mama claimed for the Lowcountry because Mama claimed all good food and considered geographic jurisdiction irrelevant.

The chicken bog was Mama’s, and I will write it into the cookbook the way she taught it — no substitutions, no apologies for the geography. But when I needed something to make with my own hands that same week, something that asked me to stand quietly at the counter and tend to it the way I have been tending to everything, I turned to this mushroom asparagus quiche. It is the kind of dish that rewards patience: the slow sauté of mushrooms, the careful pour of egg and cream, the waiting while the oven does its work. After a week of five AM decisions and ten minutes of lucid grace, I needed to make something that asked only that I show up — and this quiche always meets me there.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 9-inch pie crust, store-bought or homemade, unbaked
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp white cheddar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

Blind-bake the crust. Preheat oven to 375°F. Fit the pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges. Line with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove weights and parchment and bake 3 more minutes until just dry. Set aside.
Cook the vegetables. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, 5–7 minutes until they release their liquid and begin to brown. Add the asparagus and cook 2 minutes more. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Make the custard. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and half-and-half until fully combined and smooth. Whisk in the thyme, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Assemble the quiche. Scatter half the Gruyère and all of the cheddar evenly over the bottom of the pre-baked crust. Spoon the mushroom and asparagus mixture over the cheese in an even layer. Top with the remaining Gruyère. Slowly pour the custard over the filling, allowing it to settle between the vegetables.
Bake until set. Place the quiche on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 35–40 minutes, until the center is just set with only a slight jiggle and the top is lightly golden. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.
Rest before slicing. Let the quiche cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before cutting. This allows the custard to finish setting and ensures clean slices. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mushroom Asparagus Quiche — The Dish I Made the Morning I Said Yes