My Life in Food

Sunday some dear friends came over and brunched with me. I made quiche, having perfected, I think, my technique. There were potatoes with onions and apples, homemade peach preserves, unbeatable banana bread, and bacon, of course. Everything is better with bacon, I am assured, even though I rarely eat it myself, being a holier than thou ethically superior eater.

Sharing food with friends. It's what I do. It's how I do.

So I have this idea (maybe it was Aida's idea for me) to make it into a book. Creating community through food, or something better as a title. Ideas? It'll have stories with a personal memoir feel, with recipes of mine and friends, of course.

So the quiche - I bought Wild Hog Sausage from the Smokin' mullet, and used some of in the quiche. I should say here that I think the main reason it was so good is because I used high quality ingredients - local unadulterated eggs and milk, fancy parm from wine and cheese gallery, and Wainwright Dairy cheddar (from Lake City - it's amazing), and local organic onions.

I've recently tried melting the cheese into the milk and other ingredients before baking a quiche, and I think it helps it have a better consistency and more unified... cheesiness.

Mushroom Onion and Sausage Quiche:

Pie crust (I use frozen, but you can totally make your own and it'd be that much better)
4 eggs (or more/less depending on size of crust)
milk (whole)
parmigiano and cheddar, grated (maybe 1 cup total, mix up to you, could add swiss too)
Sausage (not much, maybe 2 oz.)
1/2 small container mushrooms
onion (I used yellow, but white or red would be fine too) - maybe 1/4 cup chopped
sage, nutmeg, salt, pepper to taste

1. Pre-bake crusts for about 10 minutes (optional, but I never have half-cooked crust)
2. Meanwhile, brown sausage in a skillet, then add mushrooms, sage (tsp maybe or 1.5 tsp), nutmeg (pinch or two), and pepper. Cook half way, then add onions and cook until both are "done." Add a very little salt.
3. Lower heat, and add some milk (maybe 3/4 cup). Add cheese to melt into milk, stirring frequently.
4. Beat eggs thoroughly with another dash of milk.
5. Once cheese is melted, turn heat off and add eggs, stirring constantly so they don't scramble.
6. Pour filling into crust and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes.