CAMERA & QUICHE!

For some reason I got a “quiche bug” over the last week incubating and I made it this morning; mainly, my sister had given me a quiche cooking dish that had a recipe for “Quiche Lorraine” on it gathering dust. However, I wasn’t in the mood for the ingredients in a quiche Lorraine, so I mixed it up to my mood. Looking for a simple recipe online I found one that worked well with my own agenda of “quick and easy.” I’ve never made quiche before but for a first-timer I was impressed at how good it turned out. Who knew quiche could be so easy? I thought it was some complicated chef creation only served at champagne brunches. Turns out if you can break an egg, you can probably make this, just try to keep the egg shells out of the mix. The other thing is this quiche required no crust and you don’t miss it as far as I’m concerned--I’ve always been the type to take the crust off my Trader Joe’s quiche after baking to minimize carbohydrates, calories and wheat intake, so finding a recipe like this was a revelation. The recipe is actually a variation of about 4 recipes, so credit where credit is due. I only used half & half because I had it on hand and thought it would add some extra goodness. The house smelled amazing while the quiche was baking as well as the dish looking amazing: that browning of the edges away from the pie dish, raised up in all its egg glory. I was so excited to try it I forgot to take a picture first—one of the reasons I bought a camera was to take pictures of my foodie adventures including kitchen creations. So the picture is a little different from what it looked like when it came out of the oven, but I will be more of a shutter bug in future to capture the “first look” for effect and evidence of its goodness! If you’re looking of an easy quiche recipe that you can throw different ingredients in (one of the recipes had spinach in it) for variety, I recommend this one. Best wishes for the next foodie adventure!

CRUST-FREE QUICHE

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ red onion chopped
1 ½ cups cheddar cheese
Pinch of coarse kosher salt
¼ teaspoon of fresh cracked pepper
6 eggs beaten
1 cup mushrooms chopped
1 clove garlic through garlic press or minced
1 cup half & half

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9” inch diameter ceramic quiche cooking dish (baking dish) with “stick-free” spray and put on tray in oven while preheating.
In a medium sauté pan combine oil, chopped onion, pressed garlic, mushrooms and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally until onions are tender. Remove pan from heat when finished.
In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, cheese, salt, pepper, and half & half. Stir in sauté pan mixture evenly.
Take tray with pie dish out of oven and pour contents of mixing bowl in dish.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until center is done through. Let cool for 5 minutes, slice and serve.
Ways to lighten-up this recipe calorie-wise and cholesterol-wise: use 8 egg whites instead of 6 whole eggs
Use “percent” milk instead of “half & half” (half milk, half cream).