salome_st_john came over for dinner tonight and I made: quiche, sauteed portabella mushrooms, and a caprese salad. The quiche recipe is a very old one that I’ve been eating all my life and cooking all my adult life. It comes from a 1954 cookbook my parents bought in about 1954. The cookbook has a wonderful cover with an Audrey Hepburn looking FRENCH MAMSELLE in a FRENCH COUNTRY KITCHEN being pretty and witty and preparing food on an artless country table. The “quiche au lard”, which is translated as “bacon tart”, is as follows. Note that the recipe has been modified for food processors.

INGREDIENTS

Two 9-inch pie crusts. I am lazy and buy frozen ones.
6 slices bacon.
1 1/4 cup of shredded or grated cheese, preferably Gruyere
2 cups milk (whole milk preferable)
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Sautée the bacon in a skillet until it’s cooked to taste. Drain and set the bacon on paper towels to drain further.

If you have a food processor or blender, put the eggs, milk, and spices in it and mix them until they’re homogeneous and frothy. If not, you will have to scald the milk and beat it slowly into the eggs and spices. I recommend using a food processor as you won’t need to deal with the scalding of the milk and you get a very good result.

Arrange the bacon on the pie crusts. Cover with the cheese. Pour the egg/milk mixture over the cheese and bacon.

Put the quiches in the 450 degree oven and leave them there for ten minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. The quiches are done when the edges of the custard are browned and when a silver knife inserted halfway to the center comes out clean.

Serve immediately.