Bacon Quiche Tarts

Lily and James got married on December 14, 2024, in Bobby Tran's backyard, in front of two hundred people, with the smoker as the backdrop and the smoke from four briskets drifting through the December air like incense.

I started the briskets at midnight Thursday. Sixty pounds of prime beef, marinated in the coriander fish sauce lemongrass rub, loaded onto the smoker two at a time. By Friday afternoon, all four were wrapped and resting. Saturday morning, James fired up the restaurant's portable smoker (they'd brought it from Westheimer for the event) and smoked ribs and the fusion sausage while I managed the briskets. We worked side by side in the predawn dark, the way we'd worked at Tyler's wedding, the way we'd work at the restaurant, the way men work when the fire is the thing they share.

The ceremony was at 4 PM. The yard was transformed: string lights, white chairs, a simple arch of greenery. Lily wore a white dress with Vietnamese silk accents. James wore a dark suit with a pocket square in green and white — Nigerian flag colors. They wrote their own vows. Lily said: "You taught me that good food takes time. I promise to give us time." James said: "Your father let me stand at his smoker. That was the first welcome. You are the second. I choose this family." I was standing in the front row and I had tears on my face and I did not wipe them because I earned those tears.

The food. The brisket was transcendent — four packers, all perfect, the coriander rub singing. Mai's spring rolls vanished in twenty minutes. Grace's suya and chin chin were fought over. James's jollof rice was a masterpiece. Lourdes sent lumpia and turon. Emma made her lumpia-stuffed jalapeño poppers. The table was Vietnamese, Nigerian, Filipino, and Texan, and a man from the food section of the Houston Chronicle was there (Lily had invited him) and took notes. The table was the thesis statement: Smoke and Nuoc Mam, before the restaurant even opens.

Mai danced. She danced with Ava on her hip, swaying in the string lights, and Huong watched on FaceTime and cried and laughed and Mai held the phone up so Huong could see the yard and the food and the two hundred people eating in the place where a half-Vietnamese shrimp boat dropout tends a smoker in Alief, Texas. This is what I built. This is what we all built. The smoke rose into the December sky and I stood at the edge of my yard and I watched and I was present and I was sober and I was home.

The big dishes get the stories — the brisket, the jollof, the spring rolls — but a table that feeds two hundred people lives and dies by what fills the gaps. These bacon quiche tarts were exactly that: something warm, something savory, something people could grab between dances and toasts and tears. I’ve made them for smaller gatherings before, but standing in that backyard on December 14th, watching guests reach for them between bites of suya and lumpia, I understood that a great small bite is its own kind of love letter to the people you’re feeding.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 24 tarts

Ingredients

2 packages (15 oz each) refrigerated pie crust dough
6 strips thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup shredded Gruyère or sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Fresh chives or flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish
Nonstick cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray two standard 12-cup muffin tins generously with nonstick cooking spray.
Cut the tart shells. Roll out the pie crust dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a 3-inch round cutter or the rim of a glass, cut circles from the dough. Press each circle gently into a muffin cup, pressing up the sides to form a shallow shell. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Cook the bacon. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, then crumble into small pieces.
Make the custard. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, and milk until fully combined and smooth. Stir in the garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper.
Assemble the tarts. Place a small pinch of diced onion and a pinch of crumbled bacon into each tart shell. Add a generous pinch of shredded cheese on top of each. Carefully ladle or pour the egg custard into each shell, filling to about 3/4 full.
Bake. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the custard is set and the edges of the crust are golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
Cool and serve. Let the tarts cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing. Garnish with fresh chives or parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature. These hold well on a platter for up to 2 hours.

Nutrition (per serving)

Bacon Quiche Tarts — The Small Bites That Fed a Wedding