Christmas Quiche

Every Christmas, my mom makes this delicious quiche for lunch.  It's a tradition in our family that we've done all my life, and I don't think we're ever gonna change it.  This is my favorite quiche ever.  I did not create it, though. The recipe is a Jimmy Dean recipe from a magazine that my mom found a long time ago, called "Country Breakfast Pie."  I'm looking at the paper right now, and it's so torn and brown colored because of how old it is.  This tastes so good warm from the oven, but also very good cold (or heated) the next day.  It's so easy to make, too.  The reason I call it a "Christmas Quiche" is because the green and red peppers make it so pretty and festive looking.  It's seriously a fool-proof, perfect, recipe.  It's pretty, easy, and amazingly tasty.  Actually, there is one thing that you may have to do: cover the crust edges with aluminum foil to prevent them from burning.  We've had a couple over-cooked crusts in the past, but the aluminum makes it cook perfectly. I don't usually even like pie crust, but it tastes so buttery, crunchy, and melt-in-your-mouth perfect in this recipe.


Yield: 6 to 8 servings


Ingredients:
1 pkg. Jimmy Dean Sausage, any flavor (we usually use original, mild)
9" pie shell, pre-made or "from scratch" (we've always used pre-made)
1.5 cups grated swiss cheese
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup red bell pepper
2 tbsp. chopped onion
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup light cream


Instructions:
Cook sausage until done.  Crumble, then drain.  Prepare 9" pre-made or "from scratch" pie shell.  Lightly beat eggs in bowl.  Combine remaining ingredients and add to egg mixture.  Pour in shell.  Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes.  Cool on rack 10 minutes.


What are your Christmas meal traditions??

Crustless Spinach Quiche

      Quiches have always been a favorite of mine.  Why? Because you can add anything to them!!  I've done so many variations with quiches.  Once, I even made muffin quiches and each one was different (one had ham, one had chicken, one had different vegetables or spices, etc).  This quiche is probably my favorite of all my experiments.  I really enjoy it with sharp white cheddar cheese and mushrooms as well.  I absolutely love spinach and white cheese (as opposed to orange cheeses I mean), and I do NOT like pie crust!  I've never liked any flaky pie crust...even on fruit pies and pumpkin pie.  I think it tastes so plain and weird.  So I created this crustless spinach quiche.  It's so easy and delicious... a perfect Sunday brunch.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 10 ounces fresh spinach, wilted and drained
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1.5 cups shredded mozzerella cheese
• 1.5 cups shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or garlic salt, if you prefer)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Tuna Casserole Quiche

       "Ewww! A tuna casserole quiche???"

      Yeah. That's probably what you're thinking when you read the title.  I'm telling you right now:  if you love tuna casserole or tuna melts, then you will enjoy this quiche.  If you do not like tuna casserole or tuna melts, then you probably won't.  Me, who loves any tuna dish, especially covered with melted cheese, thought this quiche was very good.  I was even going to enter this into the state fair, but I never got the chance.  It is definitely a unique dish...I never had tuna in a quiche before I experimented with this.  But when you think about it,  cheese goes great with eggs.  Sooo..just about anything that tastes good with cheese would probably taste good in a quiche too!  I've had many successes incorporating my favorite dishes into other types of dishes, so I decided to transform tuna casserole into a quiche. The peas give it a really nice texture and the flour adds some fluffiness and thickness.  The milk is what makes it creamy, along with the cheese.  It's a comfort food for sure, like any quiche, and its pretty cheesy - which is one of the main reasons why I love it so much. 

Yield: 1 9-inch pie (about 8 servings)

Ingredients:

4 eggs, scrambled

½ cup all-purpose flour

4 slices American cheese, torn into pieces

2 5-ounce cans chunk white tuna in water, drained

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ cup milk

1 ½ cup cooked peas

4 slices American cheese

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).  Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan.

2.      Mix everything except the last 4 slices of cheese in large bowl until no flour lumps remain and everything is just combined.  Pour into pie pan.  Set 4 slices cheese evenly on top so quiche is nearly covered.

3.      Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set.  Let cool in pan at least 10 minutes before serving (hot or cold).  If serving cold, refrigerate overnight.