TO DIE FOR QUICHE!

For the little Baptism brunch we had at the house after the service last week I made two quiches that were sooooo good. This was my first time to ever make a quiche and boy were they delicious. I was pretty proud of myself.

The first quiche was a spinach and gruyere quiche. I found it on this blog. Here is the recipe.

Spinach Gruyere Quiche
Serves 4 -6

Ingredients

1 9-inch deep dish frozen pie crust
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup thinly sliced shallots
4 large eggs
1¼ cups heavy cream
pinch ground nutmeg
¾ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup grated Gruyere
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung free of water*

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove pie crust from freezer and thaw until just soft enough to easily prick with a fork, about 10 minutes. Prick bottom and sides all over with a fork. Bake on center rack until fully cooked and lightly golden, between 10-15 minutes depending on the brand. (Keep an eye on it...if it puffs up while cooking, gently prick it with a fork so it will deflate.) Set aside and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

2. Heat butter in a small saute pan over medium-low heat. Cook shallots until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown. Set aside to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper.

3. Place cooked pie shell on a baking sheet (this makes it easy to move in and out of oven). Spread shallots over bottom of cooked crust, then sprinkle grated Gruyere over top. Scatter spinach evenly over cheese (breaking up clumps as best you can), then pour egg mixture over top.

4. Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes until custard is set and top is lightly golden. Serve hot or warm.

The second quiche was a Ham and Bacon quiche similar to one that I had at a friends house. It was equally delicious. The two together offered a great variety for everyone.

Ham and Bacon Quiche
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup baked ham cubed
1 cup bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup onion chopped
1 cup Swiss cheese shredded
6 eggs beaten
1 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 – 9" pie shell unbaked

Oven Temp: 425º reduced to 350º
Recipe Cooking Time: 1 hour
Pan Type: quiche pie pan

Quiche Recipe Directions
Preheat your oven.
Bake quiche pie shell at 425° for 8 minutes. Reduce oven to 350°. Layer the quiche pie shell with the cheddar cheese, ham, bacon, parmesan cheese, onion and Swiss cheese.
Beat the eggs until frothy, add milk, salt, pepper and beat again. Pour eggs over the ham and bacon pie filling.
Place ham and bacon quiche onto a cookie sheet and bake until set. Let quiche stand 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.