Birthday Post: German Quiche

     No, it's not my birthday. That already happened, but this is even more exciting! Exactly one year ago, this blog was born. On that day, I posted what is still one of my favorite recipes, fresh triple berry pie. Despite the bad newbie photography, I'll always be proud of that post and of the fact that I actually had the guts to start this and then commit to it. I remember how I waited months before even telling my family I was doing this, for fear they wouldn't take it seriously. And I waited even longer to make a Facebook like page because I was afraid no one would "like" it.  I knew that I couldn't compete with the famous food bloggers, and I still can't, but when I started, I decided that as long as 5 people read it, it'd be worth it. Luckily this community has grown bigger than that, and I feel that I'm at least starting to accomplish my greater goal of teaching people not to fear learning to cook.
     And now for the actual recipe portion of this post, the Schwäbischer Zwiebelkuchen. Don't let the name scare you, it's basically quiche Lorraine, which was actually most likely invented by Germans.  Everybody wants to take the credit. Swabia, the region of Germany that I now call home, is really close to France, so there's probably a little cultural overlap in this case. But no matter what you call it, this quiche/cake/pie is extremely delicious. I made one big one just for myself, ate it for literally every meal for 3 days, and didn't get sick of it. In fact, I'll probably make another one soon. (I think we established long ago that I have no shame when it comes to food. And also very little in most other areas of my life.) But anyway, this recipe is good. Really good. I didn't even plan to make it my anniversary post, but it deserves the honor.

INGREDIENTS:
Shortcrust:
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 sticks butter, softened
1 egg
pinch of salt
pinch of baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour

2lbs. onions, finely chopped
a slab of bacon, chopped
1 1/2 cups sour cream
4 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. It's best to prepare the crust dough a few hours early, chill it in the fridge, then take it out 30 minutes before use. To make it, beat the butter, sugar, egg, and salt until fluffy. then gradually add the dry ingredients. Mix it with a machine or by hand, but it does need a little bit of hand kneading at the end. It should come together nicely.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 and grease and flour a 12inch springform pan. Chop the onions, then the bacon. Slices of bacon work too, but the raw slab is more German and more like ham, so I prefer that.
3. Fry up the bacon in a pan, then add the onions. Cook them in butter on medium-high heat until they look clear, and then lower the heat and let them caramelize for 30 minutes. Remember there's a fine line between caramelized and burnt. 
4. In a large bowl, make the "batter." Mix together the flor, salt, pepper, eggs, and sour cream until smooth. Then stir in the onions and bacon.

5. Roll out the crust dough and fit it into the pan. Make sure it goes all the way up the sides, but leave the edge unfinished to give it that rustic look.
6. Pour the batter into the crust and bake at 400 for 45 minutes to an hour, until the middle is set. I've decided that my weird German oven is more like a broiler, so that's why I can't give good estimates on baking times anymore. 

     Just because I really want you to make this and love it as much as I do, I'll even condone substituting pre-made pie crust. That way, it's super easy. Have it for whatever meal you want. It's always a good time for quiche.

     And now for my super special announcement: I'm going back to the good old days of daily recipes! I'm not sure yet, when I'll start because I'm leaving Germany for home on Thursday. It would have been perfect to start the daily posts again exactly on the anniversary, but I will need some time to recover from my flight and settle back in at home. That could be two days or two weeks, I don't know. But I will get back into my old rhythm sometime soon. That being said, because I'm one year older and wiser now, I'm a lot more concerned with quality than quantity. I'm not going to force myself to come up with something great every day. Yes, I will cook every day, but they can't all be winners, and I could post mediocre things, but that's not really worth. So if and when that happens, maybe I'll just post some random thoughts on whatever is inspiring me at the time. I don't know if that would interest anyone, but I have been wanting to try it because I have a lot of thoughts, and sometimes I feel like I put myself in a box with the food/travel themes. So we shall see. 

     I want to thank all of my readers for your support and encouragement. Thank you for following me around the world. I really hope that you try some of these recipes and enjoy them as much as I do. Because of you, this year has been a blast. Let's continue to grow this little community. It's gonna be a fun summer, followed by another year of European adventure. I can't wait!