Delicious Quiche and Oh So Easy! Yummy

It seems like I have over-night guest quite often. Most often, it is friends. But, on occasion, it is someone coming for a ministry meeting.  Whoever it is, I want them to feel welcomed and to have a brief escape from the crazy world we live in.  Our home is a place of peace and it seems like it draws people here. We are nestled in the Pisgah National Forest, and there is nothing around most of the year except nature and “us”.  The mountain laurel is about ready to bloom, but first the mountain ivy will break forth in pink and white blossoms that look like huge balls of fluffy cotton or snow.  Tomatoes are growing beside a row of peppers in my little raised garden beds.  I’ve just planted a new flower garden, and one of our dogs decided to undo part of my work.  I found a tattered, but salvageable plant laying beside of the deep hole he had dug up.Where was “he” when I needed that hole dug to plant the flower to start with!  I planted some more flowers and replanted the one that had been removed by my furry critter. If I had a sign in front of my home, or in my gardens, it would say, “Peace Grows Here”. It surely does.

Tuesday I had a friend in from out of town and we spent the day sharing our stories and talking about how wonderful our Abba is. For some of you, that might sound down right boring, but you don’t know my friend — and you might not know my heavenly Father! Nothing is every boring where G-d is concerned. If you turn your life over to Him, it suddenly gets brighter, and more exciting. I’m always waiting with anticipation to see what He is going to do next. Well,  I knew my friend would be leaving early on Wednesday and I didn’t want to spend all morning cooking.  I decided to make my favorite quiche. It’s so delicious and yummy– just like sharing about G-d with a friend.

If you can’t make over to my side of the mountain, at least enjoy a piece of this Yummy, Delicious Quiche!  And, like everything I enjoy making, it’s so very easy!  When you take it from the oven, lightly browned and smelling like a piece of paradise, you will be so pleased with your culinary abilities!

Heavenly Quiche

1 Refrigerator pie crust, unroll over your deep-dish pie pan or oven-proof pie plate, bring to room temperature, fit snuggly into dish and then crimp the edges.

5 Eggs

1 cup of cooked spinach. I use the freezer kind, then just microwave it until it is thawed completely. Drain all of the water out, then give it a very hard squeeze, then squeeze it with several paper towels folded together. You do not want any water left in it.

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 (preferably Vidalia) onion, chopped and sauteed’ in olive oil, drained

2 cups of half-half or whole milk or heavy cream

4 or 5 slices of tomato, slice and then pat very dry with paper towels (otherwise you will get a “soggy bottom”)

1/2 cup sliced or chopped mushrooms, sauteed.

Salt, pepper to taste

1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)

1/4 tsp paprika (optional)

Options:  1/4 bacon, fried and crumbled– drain well and then blot with a paper towel

Handful of small shrimp (I buy the ready-to-eat kind), shelled and cooked

1/4 cup chopped red, yellow, green pepper

1/2 cup chopped broccoli- steamed

1/4 cup chopped ham

1/4 cup feta cheese in addition to cheddar or in place of cheddar

Note: You can make this low fat by using low fat or fat free cheese and low fat or fat free half-half or milk. You can also use egg substitute such as Egg Beaters©.

Prepare:

Preheat oven to 375.  Break 1 egg, and separate the white from the yellow.  Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the egg white over the edges and sides of the pie crust.  Save the yolk and remaining white for the quiche. Sprinkle 1/4 of the shredded cheese over the bottom of the prepared pie crust.

Break the other four eggs into large bowl and add the remains of the above egg, beat lightly to break yokes. Pour in two cups fresh cream or milk. Stir in bacon, shrimp, or chopped ham (optional). Set aside 1/4 of remaining cheddar cheese. Mix rest of cheddar into egg-milk mixture.  Stir in spinach or broccoli. Stir in sauteed’ onions and mushrooms. Add salt and pepper according to your own preference. Add nutmeg. Mix gently. Pour into pie crust.  Sprinkle with Paprika. Gently lay tomato slices in a circle on the top. They will sink, but will rise up as the quiche cooks.  Now sprinkle remaining cheddar (which was set aside earlier) on top of the tomatoes/egg mixture.  Bake approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on your oven and depth of pie dish. When it springs to the touch, is slightly browned and a pick inserted into the middle comes out clean, you know it is done!  If the crust edges brown too quickly, cover them with foil strips, but not the quiche mixture.  Remove from oven and let set about 10 minutes. Slice, serve, and enjoy.  In the last ten minutes you can also add a few sprigs of  parsley to the top.  Enjoy!