A Break from Desserts

Man cannot live on dessert alone, much as he might like to, and since it's been Sugar Fest here for several posts, I was feeling like writing about something savoury. Or at least something without sugar as one of the ingredients. My brother Isaiah had been requesting quiche recently, so quiche it is! And since I have so many pies to make this week for a Christmas dinner that I promised to donate to, I wasn't in the mood to roll out more pastry. So, here you have it:

QUICK AND EASY CRUSTLESS BROCCOLI QUICHE

Butter for greasing the pie plate (9 inch deep dish)
6 large eggs
2/3 cup half and half cream
1 cup milk (preferably whole)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces grated Cheddar cheese, the more aged the better
2 cups steamed broccoli (or 2 cups of any other vegetable desired)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease your pie plate with butter and set aside.

Beat the eggs, cream, and milk together until blended. (You can use your blender for this.) Stir in the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the bottom of your baking dish. Spread your 2 cups of broccoli (or whatever you're using) over the cheese and then gently pour the egg mixture over that. Sprinkle the nutmeg evenly over the top.

Bake in the oven about 30 minutes. When done, a cake tester will come out clean. (It will be nice and brown on top. See picture below) Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

And for an accompanying flick:John Cusack is an actor I would watch in almost any film and Grosse Pointe Blank is a winner, not only because of Cusack, but also because of his sister Joan, who is always great, Dan Aykroyd who is so clearly enjoying his role as Grocer, Minnie Driver who is just snarky enough to still be likeable and the story itself, which is a fun and very funny look at the life of a hitman who has a psychoanalyst and orders egg-whites-only omelettes. The screenplay is also snappy and intelligent, which is more than I can say of most hitman flicks. Sure, it's violent, but that could be expected from reading the back of the DVD case. If violence bothers your stomach, almost all of the other films on this blog (so far) are family friendly. This quiche could go (though not nearly as well) with one of them.