My Kitchen My World - Great Britain!

Great Britain - the land of kings and queens, princes and princesses, the stuff fairytales are made of.  Our group, My Kitchen My World, is exploring the foods of Great Britain this month.

There were so many wonderful choices this month.  My husband actually made the choice for me and asked, "why don't you make a quiche?"  So quiche it is.  However, I think the popular quiche in England is the Quiche Lorraine.  I like a little more of this and that in my quiche so I substituted ham for the bacon and I added some frozen, chopped, and thoroughly drained spinach to the mix.

Check out our website and see what the other cooks came up with for their British dish!  Click here:
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I cannot wait to virtually travel next month as we go to TONGA.  That one might be a challenge for me.

If you are not in the mood for fish and chips, try a quiche.  Try quiche cold on a weekend lunch.  So many variables as to what ingredients to choose.  I love artichokes in mine.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 recipe pie dough or a prepared frozen pie crust
• 1/2 pound of bacon (you can use more or less to your taste) (I used chopped ham)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper to taste 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup grated gruyere or other cheese (cheddar works too or mozzarella)
• 1 heaping tablespoon chopped chives

METHOD

1.  I prebaked my crust for about 5-10 minutes in a 350 oven.

2 Cook the bacon.  Slowly cook the bacon, turning the strips over occasionally until they are nicely browned and much of the fat has rendered out. Lay the cooked strips of bacon on a paper towel to absorb the excess fat. Chop the cooked bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch pieces.

3 Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the nutmeg, salt, black pepper and chives and whisk a little more. Add the milk and cream and whisk vigorously to incorporate and introduce a little air into the mix – this keeps the texture of the quiche light and fluffy.

Arrange the bacon and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust.  Drain the thawed frozen spinach and squeeze in paper towels to get the liquid out.  Add to the bacon and cheese.

Whisk the egg-milk mixture hard again for a few seconds, then pour it gently into the pie crust. 

4 Put the quiche into the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. Check for doneness after 30 minutes by gently jiggling the quiche. It should still have just a little wiggle. (It will finish setting while it cools.) Cool on a wire rack.

Eat at room temperature, cold (a quiche will keep for several days in the fridge), or reheated gently in a 200-degree oven.  I let mine completely cool and then I froze it for later use.

Yield: Serves 6.