Feeding Friendship: The Egg

Hello readers. This time Veronica picked the egg as her ingredient, in order to use up the output of their new feathered backyard tenants in the "fowlamo." This cycle I have failed on the photo front due to some work travel and general lameness, but I wanted to share a recipe that I make all the time featuring eggs: Quiche Lorraine. Despite its delicate French name, it's a tasty and hearty quiche that can be enjoyed openly by men since it includes bacon. It also makes great leftovers that I can take to work for lunch for several days. Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Ingredients:

6 to 8 pieces of bacon
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (or substitute cheese of your choice)
1/3 cup minced onion
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups whipping cream or half-and-half
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper (optional)
1 pie crust

Preheat your oven to 425. Cook 6-8 pieces of bacon (depending on how much bacony goodness you want) and crumble once cool (or crumble the pre-cooked variety). Make or buy a standard 9" pie crust. In the bottom of the pie crust, spread the bacon, 1/3 cup minced onion, and 1 cup of Swiss cheese (I like cheddar or Gruyere too, Swiss is just the traditional cheese for this quiche).

In a medium bowl, beat your eggs. Then add the salt and pepper and beat in the cream or half and half. Combine well and then pour this mixture over the other elements in your pie crust. You may want to put your pie crust on a cookie sheet before you pour to make it easier to transfer to the oven. Don't overfill, as this sometimes makes a little too much cream/egg mixture for your crust. Carefully put the quiche in the oven. After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 350. Bake another 45-50 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The center will puff up slightly, but will fall after you remove it from the oven. Wait a few minutes for it to cool and then slice or put it in the fridge and serve later. It keeps pretty well for several days. So yummy!