Susan George's Quiche Lorraine

Susan George's Quiche Lorraine

One unbaked 9-inch pie shell, homemade or prepared
6 to 8 slices lean bacon
2 tbsps. butter
1 small onion, peeled, minced
6 to 8 cleaned mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 cups grated aged cheddar cheese
4 eggs
2 cups whipping cream or half and half
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Few drops of pepper sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
2 or 3 large ripe tomatoes

Line 9-inch pie plate with pastry. Partially bake pie crust in preheated 400 degrees F. oven 7 to 8 minutes or until pastry begins to brown. Remove from oven; cook on wire rack. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp and brown. Drain bacon well, crumble; set aside.

Saute minced onion in 1 tbsp. butter until transparent. Cook mushrooms in remaining butter until barely golden; remove from heat. Sprinkle bacon on bottom of cooled pastry shell. Arrange cheese and mushrooms over bacon.

Prepare custard by beating together eggs, cream, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Add cooked onion to custard mixture. Pour custard into pie shell. Slice tomatoes and place in an attractive design in shell.

Bake in preheated 425 degrees F. oven for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake 40 minutes longer or until silver knife inserted in filling comes out clean.

Cut to serve piping hot or at room temperature. Delightful with a tossed green salad and very dry white wine. Serves six to eight.

Thoughts: The quiche is easy to prepare and hearty enough for any steak-and-potato lover. Ground cooked ham may be substituted for crumbled bacon. Aged cheddar gives a hearty smoked flavor to the custard. A milder Gruyere, Swiss, Camembert, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Liederkranz or cream cheese may be substituted. Use more cheese if desired, particularly if using a mild cheese.

With cream cheese, use extra grinds of pepper, dashes of hot sauce and nuances of fresh herbs (parsley) or spices (nutmeg). This French classic can be made in advance, reheated to serve, or frozen and served as main dish or hors d'oeuvre offering.