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Q. “I love making quiche, but lately it has been hit or miss. Sometimes the crust is soggy, and the filling seeps through to the pie plate. Should I pre-bake the crust? Poke holes in the bottom?” —Tom, Kimberly

A. Quiche is a great preparation and can be prepared with a variety of ingredients. Quiche filling is basically a custard and as with any custard, the ratio of eggs to liquid is of critical importance to provide enough structure for the custard to set up. I use a ratio of five large eggs to three cups of half and half and the finished product is both firm and delicate. The temperature of all the ingredients must be cold to prevent the crust from getting soggy. Baking the quiche at the appropriate temperature will also help prevent a soggy crust. I typically bake my quiche at 400° F for about 45 minutes. To make sure the custard is set, I jiggle the quiche a little before taking it out of the oven because nobody likes runny quiche! I would not recommend pre-baking or poking holes in the bottom of the crust. Consider the crust to function as a vessel, and much like a boat, I am pretty sure we don’t want holes in it!