Quiche

I love me a good quiche. And last December I finally made my first one for my bestie's parents and then again for me and the hubby. I tweaked the recipe as I'm known to do and I do believe I have found our favorite variation. 

Quiche

1 pie crust
4 pieces of thick bacon, chopped
1/2 of a shallot, diced
3 large crimini mushrooms, chopped
4 cups of spinach
2 Tbs of sliced olives (optional)
1 cup of heavy cream*
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese**

Pre heat oven to 375.

In a skillet, crisp up the bacon. Add the shallots and mushrooms and cook until tender. Add spinach (I just remove the large stems and do a rough tear as we like the bigger pieces of it, but you can slice it thinly if you prefer) and toss until it wilts. Add olives (these I like to do a rough chop on them) and mix until combined. Drain any excess grease if needed.

Lay the pie crust into a pie deep dish. I like to spray mine with Pam so it doesn't stick. Crimp the edges and trim any excess if you need to. You can totally make your own pie crust but I'm lazy and the refrigerated version works perfectly well. You can also use a frozen deep dish pie crust as well. Just let it thaw.

In a bowl, add the heavy cream and eggs. Beat together with some salt and pepper.

In your pie dish, add a layer of the bacon mixture and then a half a cup of the shredded cheese and repeat those layers. Slowly pour the egg mixture over the top. Cover with the remaining half cup of cheese and bake for about 40-45 mins. 

Stick a butter knife in the center and if it comes out clean it is done. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle some chopped chives on top if desired and enjoy!

Notes:
* The recipe calls for half and half but I never have that on hand so I use half cup of heavy cream and a half cup of milk. It's literally the same thing.

** Cheese - the original recipe calls for mozzarella. And it works perfectly well and is quite tasty. I've done a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella as well as Gouda. Gouda is by far my favorite, it adds a nice little nuttiness to it. You can use any cheese you want, just make sure it's not a hard cheese as it will not melt as well.

I'm doing what now?

I love my family I really do but in small doses. I like being able to go over to visit them or attend family functions with the ability to leave when I want to. It’s been a perfect setup until now.

So far with the exception of a 4^th of July the year we bought our house, my husband and I have managed to avoid having family functions at my house. The family tends to rotate houses for holidays so it is not always one person hosting. Thanksgiving is at my Aunt and Uncle’s house, Christmas is at my mom’s…traditionally another aunt has held Easter. This year Grandma decided that I should have Easter at my house. And she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“I really can’t afford to host it…” Nonsense…we’ll all bring food you just tell us what was her response.

“But my dogs…most of you aren’t comfortable with bigger dogs…” (This is normally my ace in the hole as my two dogs while not overly large and very loving are a bit on the excitable side and my family is more of a small dog group.) We can deal with them or you can put them in the back yard for the afternoon came her retort.

Nothing I said could sway her so I texted the husband to let him know that it’s going to be a major spring cleaning weekend as we are now hosting Easter.

Sigh.

So now I have to figure out an Easter Brunch menu. Of course there will be refried beans and tortillas. We always have them at any family holiday meal. And there should be eggs, some type of meat, potatoes, fruit…hmmm I also have to keep in mind the cooking abilities of said family as well.

I do know one recipe I want to try…

French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

·         1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)

·         Butter, for pan

·         8 large eggs

·         2 cups half-and-half

·         1 cup milk

·         2 tablespoons sugar

·         1 tablespoon vanilla extract

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·         Dash salt

·         Praline Topping, recipe follows

Directions

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch thick each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 45 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.

Praline Topping:

·         1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter

·         1 cup packed light brown sugar

·         1 cup chopped pecans

·         2 tablespoons light corn syrup

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Spread over bread as directed above.

It sounds yummy and not too hard to make. I’ll be sure to post up my results and how well it goes over!