"My Facebook Quiche Recipe"...

Real quiche for real men...

A couple of friends requested my quiche recipe that I comment about on Facebook in the early morning hours. Pictured here is a regular pie crust that I purchase instead of making the dough from scratch. Since I shouldn't eat bread anymore, I buy the Pillsbury pre-made pie shells. My wife liked it so much, she asked to try the deep dish pie crust. So, that's the recipe I'm gonna share.

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees and take the pie out of the wrapper. Break one of the six eggs and cover the edges of the crust with the clear part of the egg. ( I never thought it made that big of a difference, but I found it really does! ) Cover the bottom of the pie shell with swiss cheese. I tried other cheeses, but with the exception of pepper jack, I prefer swiss. Usually, two slices of the sandwich style cheese is enough. I then chop up enough onion to cover the top of the cheeses. ( Chop to your love of onions! )

Then, I scramble six eggs with enough low fat milk ( evaporated milk or cream, if you like working out in the gym! ) to make about two, more or less, cups. Naturally, it depends on what you are gonna put in as the filling, but usually, for the deep dish, it is about two cups! I, next, add some kind of meat. Quiche Lorraine recipe calls for bacon chips, but I use mostly deli ham enough to cover neatly over the cheese and onions. About two slices which I cut up in thin slices or just tear it apart into little pieces. ( The only other meat I've tried is turkey smoked sausage, but what ever you imagine, I guess, should work. )

I then, add some kind of greens. To be honest, I like fresh basil and roma tomatoes chopped up and added until that mixture pretty much fills to the crust. Other combinations that I've tried that work are broccoli, artichoke hearts and mushrooms, cilantro and tomato with black olives, spinach and tomato, cilantro and pickled jalapeno!

Pour the milk and egg mixture over the filing to the top of the pie rim. Oh yeh, before the pie gets too heavy and unwieldy, put the pie on a baking sheet. Believe me, you don't wanna spill an uncooked quiche while putting it into the oven. ( It makes such a mess! )

I have started, in the last five or six quiches, to adding fresh nutmeg especially if the recipe I using doesn't include strong spices like basil or cilantro. If the mixture is light, ground fresh nutmeg is really good. ( I sometimes take a taste of the filing without disturbing the crust, and that's how I know it is really effective! )

Before the pie goes in the oven at 375 for 35 minutes, I sprinkled fresh, shredded parmesan or romano cheese on top. I, sometimes use sharp cheddar, but mostly, I like the parmesan.

I wait about five minutes or so, to cool off. I serve it with a fruit salad or a sliced banana. And that's it.

It should be noted that I mentioned, in jest, making an Italian quiche with artichokes, anchovies and garlic. A friend tried it and said it was wonderful...

Of course, he's Italian!

Copyright 2013/ Ben Bensen III

Just Some Early Morning Observations...

A ham, tomato, swiss cheese and onion quiche...

Just some observations in the morning. I'm sitting here with the laptop, staring out the kitchen window, enjoying a third cup of CDM and a large slice of quiche which I made for my wife. She had to leave before it was finished, so I guess I have to save her a piece.

The birds are pissed and squawking 'cuz there's no grub in the feeder. I noticed, no matter the season, all species of birds descend on my feeder between 8 am and 8:30 am. They are very timely. If there's no grub, they move on and won't return till the late afternoon, en masse.

I wonder about their time clocks... they don't have wrists!

After loading the feeder, I threw out some egg shells because I believe in putting back to nature what we and the animals take away, and I found that many times, birds will cart off pieces of the shells and devour them especially the females during mating season.

I guess they know they need to replenish their calcium.

I also noticed, not just today, but over a period of time, ground feeding birds love it and sort of cheer on the jays and woodpeckers as they fling out the sunflower seeds to the ground to get to the peanuts!

The goldfinch always stay for the winter, but I never get to see the males in full resplendent color. They fly back north to mate. With their stay here, they bring along the Sharp-shinned Hawk which seem to follow them here and occasionally prey on the locals.

I wonder if the locals hate the goldfinch for screwing up the neighborhood by bringing in a bad element!

Maybe, that is why they occasionally slam up against the windows in a fit to escape. It makes for a skittish bunch of birds while at the feeder.

Just some observations...

Also, though this quiche is quite tasty, I've exhausted all my recipes for quiche. I wonder how an anchovies and olive salad quiche would taste!

Whadda'ya think?

Copyright 2013/Ben Bensen III