Mini mushroom quiches

Living in France and being vegetarian means one would have to have had a quiche (pronounced kee-sh) at least once out here. A quiche is just an open pie containing eggs that can be baked with/without a crust and with any ingredients that one is willing to put. I recently bought a set of ramekins hoping to make créme brulée sometime. But before that I thought I’d make an attempt at a mini quiche. For the uninitiated, here’s what a mini-quiche looks like -

Yes, yes i made that… Like what you see? Here’s how to make it -
Ingredients (to make 6 mid-sized mini-quiches)
1. Eggs – 3 medium
2. Egg whites – 2 medium
3. Milk – 2 tablespoons
4. Mushrooms – 3 large button mushrooms finely chopped
5. Garlic – 1 small one chopped fine
6. Seasoning – salt to taste, garam masala to taste
7. Garnishing – fresh coriander to sprinkle
8. Oil – 1 tsp
9. Baking spray if you have it
How
1. Whisk the eggs, egg whites and the milk together and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet. Once it’s hot, put in the garlic and cook till golden brown.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook till tender. You have the option of adding onions here if you want. I wasn’t in the onion-cutting mood. So, I skipped it.
4. Stir in the salt and garam masala to taste. Turn off and let it cool briefly.
Bake
1. I used ramekins because I didn’t have a muffin pan. If you do, that’s your best option. Spray it with baking spray so that the quiche doesn’t stick to the edges when it gets done.
2. Divide the egg ‘batter"’ equally in all cups/ramekins. Meanwhile start to preheat the oven to 325°F ( approx 165°C).
3. Spoon in a heapful of the mushroom mixture into each of the ramekins.
4. Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes. The egg starts bubbling and a toothpick that’s inserted should come out clean (as in all baking cases). This should be the visible transformation -

Garnish with fresh coriander after spooning out the quiches which should pop out pretty easily. It's light and absolutely delicious and almost like finger food at this size.
When to eat it
A quiche is a normal appetizer here in France. If you choose to put in some sweet stuff and refrigerator, it doubles as a dessert. I prefer to have quiche as a mid-day snack.. a filler of sorts for the grumbling tummy. Tonight of course, it serves as an appetizer for dinner.

Larger quiches are made in pie pans and usually have a pie-crust underneath. I read something on the food network recently and had the irrepressible urge to try out a mini-quiche (also to use my brand-new ramekins). So here I leave you with a final tempting shot.

Bon Appétit!