Desperation Dinners - A Classic Dish: Quiche Lorraine great for a holiday meal

Eating quiche Lorraine in a French bistro made a lasting impression on us, and even though we have baked quiche for years and have written about it in our cookbooks, we had never tried the classic rendition. This quiche is tall and smooth, with little other than cheese, onions and a bit of bacon to distract from a custardy center rich with eggs and cream.

We couldn't stop talking about this quiche, so we realized that it probably was a great candidate for a special holiday breakfast.

The good news is that this quiche is fairly straightforward, and it can be cooked ahead, refrigerated or frozen, and quickly reheated for breakfast or brunch. Allow just under a half-hour of preparation and you will be rewarded with a memorable Christmas-morning breakfast. For other twists on Christmas-worthy quiche, visit www.kitchenscoop.com.

Classic Custard Quiche Lorraine

1 refrigerated pie crust dough (half of a 15-ounce box), at room temperature

(See Note)

3 slices thick

bacon (See Note)

¾ cup minced onion

½ cup grated Swiss cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

5 large eggs

1¼ cups heavy or whipping cream

½ cup whole milk (see Note)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper (See Note)

¼ teaspoon dried tarragon

Pinch each of dried thyme and nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Place pie dough on a lightly floured surface, and unroll it. Using a rolling pin, roll the crust into a circle about 13 inches in diameter. Place dough into a springform pan, and fold the edge to the outside of the pan, pressing it into the sides of the pan. This is so the crust doesn't shrink in baking. Prick the crust all over the bottom and sides with a fork. Bake, uncovered, until crust begins to brown just slightly, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside.

3. While the crust bakes, cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until very crisp and brown on both sides, about eight to 10 minutes. While the bacon cooks, peel and mince the onion, and set aside. When the bacon is done, remove to a plate lined with paper towels, blot any extra fat, and set aside. Remove all but about 1 teaspoon of fat in the skillet, add the onion and cook until translucent, about four to five minutes.

4. Scatter onions and half of the cheeses evenly over crust bottom. Set aside. Finely chop bacon, and scatter half of it over the cheese in the crust. Set remaining bacon and cheese aside.

5. Break eggs into a blender container. Add the cream, milk, flour, pepper, tarragon, thyme and nutmeg, and process on high until very foamy, about one minute. Pour half of the egg mixture into pie crust. Scatter in the remaining bacon and cheese. Top with remaining egg mixture.

6. Bake, uncovered, until the top is light brown and the quiche is just set, about 55-60 minutes; the center should still jiggle slightly. Remove from the oven, and cool at least 15 minutes before removing sides of the springform pan. Quiche may be cooled to room temperature and frozen, still in the pan and covered tightly with both plastic wrap and foil, for up to two weeks. Defrost in refrigerator for two days, bring back to room temperature, and reheat for five minutes, uncovered, in a 300-degree oven before preparing to serve. Alternately, quiche can be refrigerated for up to two days. Follow directions above for reheating.

7. To serve, cut the quiche crust away from the springform pan's side with a serrated knife, leaving about a 1-inch crust side above the filling of the quiche. Remove the sides of the spring form pan, slice and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Note: Four slices of thin bacon can be used. Crust can be placed in a deep-dish pie plate, crimping the edges decoratively. Or use a frozen deep-dish pie crust. Prebake as instructed in Step 2. If you don't have whole milk, ¼ cup half-and-half and ¼ cup skim or low-fat milk can be substituted. Three drops of Tabasco sauce can be used instead of white pepper.

Nutrition information for one serving: 371 calories (71 percent from fat), 29 g fat (15 g saturated), 204 mg cholesterol, 11 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 352.5 mg sodium.

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