The most terrifying part of making quiche from scratch is making the dough. But really, it's just flour, fat, and a tiny bit of water. If you want a flaky crust, you've got to use a solid fat. I was reading Dominique Ansel's new baking book and his ham and cheese croissant (Ibérico and Mahón, to be exact) has pork fat in the dough, so the whole thing kind of has the essence of ham thing going on. I also took a pie making class a year ago and the instructor said that you can add a tablespoon of vodka because it evaporates in the oven, so the dough is pliable while you're working with it, but the final baked product is still tender because it's not drenched in liquid.
Alas, I didn't use anything like animal fat or alcohol in my pie crust. I just cut up a stick of cold butter and mixed in 1.5 cups of flour and about 4 tablespoons of water, using a combination of a knife, a fork, and my hands, because I don't have a pastry blender. Then I tossed in some ham, tomatoes, and cheese, filled up each shell with an egg/milk mixture, and popped them in the oven for half an hour at around 400 F until the crust was lightly browned.
Result: looks good, tastes good, but the crust was a little tough (still flaky though). I honestly wasn't very careful with the dough making process, because everything is supposed to be really cold and you aren't supposed to handle it too much. Next time I will make sure to use ice cold water and a pastry blender so I don't overwork the dough. Now I want to make egg tarts!
