Quiche Lorraine

Last year when I invited my mom to our house for Easter and told her I was thinking about serving quiche, she nearly had a heart attack!  Growing up, I never liked quiche and adamantly refused to eat it on the (many) occasions my mom served it.  Imagine Mom's surprise when I told her I was going to completely change my typical East brunch menu to feature a dish I claimed to hate.  My mom had a great recipe at her house, but since that was three hours away, we combined was she could recall from the recipe with a basic quiche from Julia Child.  The result was a hit.  And I ate two helpings!  Now, this quiche is becoming an Easter tradition!

1 9-inch piecrust, frozen or homemade

6 strips bacon

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced into half-moons

1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Place piecrust in a pie pan and bake 5 minutes.  Leave the oven on.

Chop the bacon into bite-sized pieces.  Cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp.  Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from skillet and let drain on a paper-towel lined plate.  Pour off all but two tablespoons bacon drippings remaining in skillet.  Saute onion in drippings until translucent.

When the piecrust is done, layer the bacon, onion, and cheeses over the partly baked pie crust.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Pour over the cheese mixture in the pie crust.

Bake the quiche for 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350, and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes longer.

Serve immediately.

Serves 6-8.