Friday, May 13, 2011

Spinach & Bacon Quiche

Quiche holds a special honor in our homes.  Nana's side of the family hails from Metz, France.  This is the capital of the Lorraine region, which is famous for you know what.  Needless to say, we love quiche.  Nana was born in the states but many of her older siblings (she is one of six) were born in Metz.  

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia: Metz

Her father, Felix, worked as a fire lookout in the tall north tower of the Cathedrale Saint-Etienne (St. Stephen's Cathedral)  as a young married man.  Her mother (my  own "Nana") used to carry lunch to him up the almost 400 stairs each day.  If that is not true love, I am not sure what is - regardless of how gorgeous the view is.  Our families have visited the Cathedral and it is truly lovely.  Most "French Fridays" make us want to go back to Paris, but this time we were nostalgic for the Alsace region and hope to plan a visit soon.

We probably would have loved this versatile and tasty dish if we had hailed from elsewhere in the world....but having this as part of our heritage warms our heart all the more.  That doesn't mean, however, that the pate brisee always cooperates with us......

Per Nana ~

This week's recipe, spinach and bacon quiche,
was very easy and tasty.
We enjoyed a lovely cup of chicken broth first, and then the quiche.



 Since it is not a heavy meal, I think it would be a wonderful
 summertime meal with a delicious tomato and basil salad.
I made the regular tart crust from Dorie's book and
pre-cooked it as directed. I think that is one of the best
crusts I have used and I look forward to using it
 for my fruit tarts in the coming months.


The rest of the ingredients were simple to assemble,
and cooking time is not too long.
 I will say that when it is cold it is just delightful
cut into small pieces for a snack or even with a glass of wine.



Per Tricia ~

I followed the recipe with two tweaks.
One took the high road and the other, the low.
  The "high road" involved my using this lovely bacon
that I pick up when we go to Vermont. 


They have a great website (www.vtsmokeandcure.com),
 but we are lucky enough to have the products stocked in
 our local grocery store up there.


My second "tweak" took the lower road.....and it involved
 substituting Green Giant chopped frozen spinach for the fresh. 


I had a box in the freezer and it just happened to be
 the requisite 10 ounces. 
 Worked like a charm and I plan to use it again.
Trust me, you'll thank me later ~ and even Nana approved.


Loved this. 
No surprise there.  
The only surprise was why I have not
been making these more frequently. 
And that is about to change :)






21 comments:

  1. Oh I love both versions so much! I know what you mean about needing to make this more often - it was so easy and tasty. So fun to read about your ties to France!

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  2. Thanks for recounting your family history in France! What a romantic account of your grandmother delivering lunch everyday to your grandfather. Your blog is one of my favourite to follow in FFwD. The duo perspective and both of you attempting the same recipe to compare notes...love it.

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  3. This looks beautiful! And I had no idea Nana had such close ties to France. Wonderful backstory and well done, as ever :)

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  4. There are no low roads in cooking! And if you don't tell they will never know. SHHHH

    Looks great & now I am thinking about that tomato & basil salad...

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  5. Your rectangle and square quiche look unique and tasty! Kudos to you both!

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  6. I love the variety of tart pans you have! Thanks for sharing a bit of your history with us!

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  7. Love the way your quiches look in all the different size pans! You both did such a lovely job. I enjoyed reading about your French background! By the way, I wish I thought of the frozen spinach!! Enjoy your week-end!

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  8. I need a square tart pan! Beautiful quiches...and I approve of your shortcut :)

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  9. Beautiful quiches and I really enjoyed your family history story. I love French Fridays, but you have such a personal connection. I'm sure these recipes mean even more to you...wonderful! And I think I need to start climbing 400 stairs every day. Then I can eat more quiche.

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  10. I've been to Metz as a young lass and it's a gorgeous place! Great to hear Nana's family is from there. And I think your square tart pan is amazing, I must get me one of that! Tricia, if I had frozen spinach, I'd use it too, trust me. Life should be about enjoyment and contentment, not hardship :-).

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  11. I love the family history and would like to visit Metz one day. I also like the different shaped tart pans, I forgot that I have a square one someplace! I agree that after making this recipe, I will make more quiches in the future.
    ps, your quiches all look delicious and frozen spinach is a great idea;-)

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  12. I loved your post and didn't realize you all hailed from the Alsace region of France. I did a study abroad program there when I was in college and loved that part of France and their cuisine! It is a beautiful region and I love the German influences on the food. That must be so nice to be from that beautiful part of the world! That's a great rectangle tart pan, too! Where did you all find it, if I may ask?

    Finally, I've given your wonderful blog the Versatile Blogger award! http://www.ryanbakes.com/2011/05/versatile-blogger-award.html

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  13. What a lovely story. That really is true love to carry lunch up 400 steps to your husband each day. All quiches turned out beautifully! And if you hadn't told us you used frozen spinach, Tricia, we would never have known. We also enjoyed this recipe so much and I will be making it again and again.

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  14. Nana and Tricia, I really enjoy reading your blog and the lovely way you both work together. I am passing on to you an 8 in one award! You can pick it up via my blog. Congrats! You both deserve this!

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  15. I love your square and rectangle quiches! Thank you so much for sharing your family history - it made for a great post!

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  16. Frozen produce is not the lower road! The bacon looks pretty amazing too. Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful stories with us, Nana.

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  17. Yummy!

    Loved hearing about your memories. And loved your quiches! Great uses of all of those other shapes. I forget when I'm making a quiche (and I've lost the bottom to my square one!). Inspiring as always!

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  18. Love reading about your ties to Paris. Making quiche for a brunch I'm having and these look amazing!!

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  19. Oh my, my, my. I can not even imagine carrying lunch up to someone 400 steps away for even one day let alone everyday. That certainly is true love! However to deliver a quiche this good to someone might make me rethink that (at least for one day) LOL
    Speaking of love, those quiche pans you girls used are wonderful! What a beautiful presentation they make. Great post. Fun to read and fun to see :)

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  20. I love the shapes of your pans. And that Green Giant frozen spinach looks just like fresh. Nice job both of you!

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  21. What a beautiful story!
    And your quiche dishes look incredibly classy an sophisticated! Absolutely love them!

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