eggin' me on...

Sorry for that laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmme-o subject line... It's the best I could muster as my brain seems to be absolutely fried on this Thursday afternoon.


Anyway, as we head into another nippy (Yahoooooooo) weekend, I plan on spending plenty of time nooking about in my sweet little BK abode (and by nooking I mean - reading, writing, sleeping, sippin' on some good ol' spiked egg-nog {tis the season, afterall}, watching Christmas movies {esp "The Family Stone"}, and dancing around my kitchen as I do some festive cooking for the friendlies over here in BK....). 


While taking a momentary daydream over here, I got to thinking about what I would actually cook or bake up this weekend and I decided on quiche, again!  Call me a creature of habit, but quiche has recently become one of my favorite go-to dishes.  Listen, it lasts all week (in the fridge) and tastes so super fresh with just a quick warming in the oven.  Pair it with a bit of soup or a nice simple salad and a hunk of crusty bread and you're totally set for a cozy lunch or dinner!

One of my favorite types of quiche is spinach, mushroom, and gruyere.  It's so EASY and tasty... I definitely recommend!  This recipe has been adapted from the "Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook"

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup gruyere, shredded
3 or 4 medium portabello mushroom caps cut into bite-size pieces (whatever size you prefer is fine so long as they're evenly sized)
4 or 5 cups baby spinach
1/2 TBS dried rosemary
olive oil for sauteing
salt and pepper to taste


Crust:
When I've been in a rush recently I've used an organic pre-made pie crust.  This has worked out well.  However, my sister made THE BEST home-made cheddar cheese crust over Thanksgiving, I will post that in the next few days!!


Cookin':
*Clean your mushroom caps well and dice those babies up!
*Grind the dried rosemary leaves down so that they're about 1/2 - 1/3 the size of the original dried leaf (I tend to grind mine in a mortar and pestle with a couple pinches of kosher salt and black pepper in order to release the flavors from the dried leaves).
*Add oil to the pan, heat it to medium, and add the mushrooms.
*Once the mushrooms have reduces and they've started creating a nice mushroomy gravy on the pan, add your rosemary/salt/pepper combo.  Sauté for another 4/5 minutes.
*Add your spinach to the pan and let it reduce with your mushrooms.  Make sure to stir periodically so that the flavors incorporate.
*Once your spinach and mushrooms have reduced to at least 1/2 their original sizes, remove from heat.  They're good to go!
*In a mixing bowl combine eggs, cheese, cream, and milk
*Place your pie shell on top of a cookie pan. 
*Fill the pie shell with your sauteed mushrooms and spinach.  Make sure everything's evenly distributed. Then cover with the eggy-cheesy-creamy-milky mixture.
*Place the quiche in a preheated 350 degree F oven.  Bake for 35-40 minutes (or until the quiche dons a slightly golden on the top & allows a knife to run clean through it)

*Allow your quiche to chill out for a few minutes and then ENJOYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!