Classic Quiche Lorraine

There is nothing quite like a  Quiche Lorraine for brunch. Absolutely nothing. Remember the scene in Alfred Hitchcock's classic film, "To Catch a Thief" starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly? When they are eating on the balcony? That's Quiche Lorraine that Cary Grant is eating. If you've never seen that movie, check it out. It's great and the clothes are to die for! I love a good Hitchcock mystery. See if you can figure it out before the end. It's not easy but the answer is there if you look carefully!

In addition to it's cult movie status, my mother absolutely LOVED Quiche Lorraine. When she made it for us in the 70's we thought it was the height of European sophistication. Then, inexplicably, quiche went out of style. People started saying things like, "real men don't eat quiche" and other absurd quotes that simply validated the "ugly American" cliche'. I've got lots of real men around and guess what? They eat quiche. One of them even asks for it on occasion. AND if you've got one of those men who think they don't like it, just call it bacon and egg pie, because that's all it really is.

All that useless stuff being said, here's what we're having on Christmas morning. step by step. It's easy to make and delicious to eat! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!


Quiche Lorraine
Serves 6 - 8

1 unbaked pie crust
1 lb. Swiss cheese, grated
5 slices (or rashers) crisply cooked bacon
1/4 c. minced yellow onion
2/3 c. light cream
5 eggs
nutmeg


First, prepare your pie crust. For me that means open the package and unroll it, dust with flour and put it into my pretty pie dish. You can do whatever labor intensive thing you like. Or not. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Next cook some bacon, nice and crispy:

While the bacon is cooking grate the Swiss cheese. I like to use my ancient Mouli Grater but again, if you like to be labor intensive, go with that.

Crumble up the bacon and mince the onion. Sprinkle them evenly over the prepared pie crust in the pan, like this:

I mean, how bad could anything be that starts with pastry, bacon and onion? Now, get going on the custard. Measure 2/3 c. light cream (or milk which works just fine) into a large measuring cup. Add the 5 eggs and whisk to combine. Sprinkle about 1/4 tsp. of fresh grated nutmeg into your custard.

Don't omit the nutmeg, it gives it a little something-something! 

Place the grated cheese into the pie dish, mounding it up slightly in the center. It will look like too much cheese, but it's not. Then, very carefully and gently, pour the custard over the cheese evenly. 

Here it is, ready for the oven. You can't tell, but he cheese is in a kind of a hill in the center. Put the quiche into your preheated oven, and set the timer for 12 minutes. At the end of 12 minutes, turn the oven down to 325 degrees (don't open the door!) and cook for another 30 minutes until the quiche is set in the middle and the crust is lightly browned. I like to garnish it with a piece of bacon so folks know what to expect when they eat it  -- but that's just me. Maybe your guests like surprises! 

AND VOILA! A quiche fit for a king, or Cary Grant.

Manly Man Cooking

I have had good luck growing hot peppers in containers around my patio. I have 2 pepper plants -- one cayenne and one jalapeno. The jalapenos are coming in right now -- I can pick as many as I want and it still seems like the "bush" is loaded! This afternoon, my husband picked a peck (not literally!) and then HE stuffed them for a super easy, summer appetizer:

Hot Peppers Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Bacon!
Hot stuffed peppers are a really manly thing to eat, so it's fitting that Mr. Man steps into the kitchen to make them. My hub likes to be in control now and then, and I always embrace it! Especially when the dish is as tasty as this one is!

We all know that everything tastes better with bacon, right? To make the stuffed peppers, have on hand some light cream cheese, a few rashers of cooked bacon and as many peppers as you need for your group to eat. Tonight, we made 9 stuffed peppers, and used 3 slices of bacon. First prepare your peppers. Cut off the stem and cut out a little elongated triangle from the pepper and clean out some or all of the seed. The more seeds, the hotter; the less seeds, the milder the appetizer will be. We had only used these peppers in chili and a stir fry, and weren't sure how hot these peppers would be on their own, so we cleaned out all of the seeds.

When you have your peppers ready, put about a tsp. of light cream cheese into them, just enought to fill them but not spill over the top. You want to keep the cheese IN the pepper!
Then, chop your bacon into slivers and sprinkle this over the cheese, very carefully, making sure each pepper has several little pieces of bacon on it. Lastly, grill the peppers until they are a little charred on the outside and the cheese is nice and hot. Make yourself a cocktail, and enjoy!