Garlic- Pepperoni- Pork- Artichoke QUICHE - Real men Make em and Eat em

This meal gets a wink and a nod INSPIRED BY tag from one of everyone's favorite bloggers, DONNA at MY TASTY TREASURE. A month ago, I saw her recipe (click HERE) and filed it away for another day... That day came...

But first, a note about yesterday's Potatoes/cheese/NUTS (pecan) mixture PECAN POTATO GRATIN 1st CHRISTMAS DINNER Side Dish???. A hornet's nest of controversy... well, no, it's just a recipe, it's not President Obama bailing out AIG, and making real worker's (the auto industry that is essential to the manufacturing abilities of the US); beg for a much smaller percentage of the TARP funds... But don't get me started... and I am digressing ...

I got comments.. lots of folks (as well as my wife's lazy good for nothing cat, Chang) had opinions... I think I did a very poor job of giving the origin of the recipe, and why I think it worked so well for me...

OK, if you read some of the comments on the 'taters, many were surprised, and a few outright objected to the notion of nuts with white potatoes and cheese. Hey, I am not an experienced cook. If I see a recipe that I find interesting, I will give it a shot and if I like it, I post it (imagine the crap I don't post). The recipe came from a respected blogger (who made it), and was inspired from a recipe shown on the Food Network (click HERE for the Food Network link). Both Cat (original poster) and I altered the original recipe (primarily, pecans in place of walnuts... Cheddar and Parmesan cheese in place of GRUYERE cheese). The original recipe has a rating system. It received 3 reviews, all three rated it a 5 star dish.

And so... the dish has a pedigree from a talented cook. It was chosen to be featured on the Food network. Cat, as well as myself posted our experiences with the dish. I told you the only issue I had (the gray color of the final dish, possibly caused by my not pealing the potatoes (roughage for me... wheee, some mornings it's a joy to get out of bed for the necessities). We both posted LOTS of photos and it is obvious that we actually made the recipe (what is it with bloggers who post reprints of magazine articles and then don't actually test them before posting? ... But I am digressing again). Possibly some of you missed the step of simmering the nuts in buttermilk for 15-20 minutes. Once that happens, they soften up, still have a bit of a crunch, for texture, but it is not the same texture as raw nuts.

Anyway, I liked the recipe. I posted it as an alternative to your "regular" potato recipes at a time when you may be asked to plan multiple menus for the same people, several "special" meals in the same week (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Quanza, Festivus and let's not forget that we are just a few weeks away from Arbor Day celebrations). These weeks before the holidays are a great time to experiment and come up with something new. My PECAN POTATO GRATIN 1st CHRISTMAS DINNER Side Dish??? deserves to be considered... If anyone else gives this a try, Please let me know what you think!

OK, and now, A Quiche that real men can appreciate!

First, I made homemade crust. Just showing off. There are many types of commercially prepared pie crusts you can buy and save time and effort. I used one that I found on the net, but do not recall exactly what the details were... Obviously buttermilk (I love buttermilk) and shortening... But again, just showing off...

And here's a fun fact... My household does not own a rolling pin (rather not have the obvious weapons of choice readily available). So, I use a wine bottle.

Deep done in your soul, when you serve a dish with a homemade crust, it is almost as satisfying as producing a rack of BBQ'ed ribs. But a commercial crust works well also... I won't judge.

Alright, let's speed this post up and get to the guts of the quiche... A basic quiche is an egg and cheese based pie. the "extras" can be just about any meat and veggies. Here's what I had on hand and tossed in the pie...

• 4 eggs
• 4 ounces of mozzarella cheese diced in 1/4 inch cubes (Swiss and/or cheddar could easily be substituted)
• 2 ounces of Provolone cheese added for topping
• 1 cup marinated Artichoke hearts Diced small
• 1 cup leftover Smoked Pulled Pork (this was the last of my Labor Day neighborhood party - Backyard BBQ party for the neighborhood - 55 people showed up. Pulled pork freezes very well, and you can use it for LOTS of leftover recipes! If you don't have any pulled pork laying around your freezer, a pound of pork sausage, hamburger or ham can easily be substituted. Donna in her ORIGINAL RECIPE used more Pepperoni.
• couple dozen thin slices of pepperoni
  

Line the bottom and up the sides with the pepperoni slices...

And, I missed a photo I should have shown, but it is easy to imagine...

Beat your eggs, dice up the artichokes, thaw and mix in the pre-cooked meat of your choice (pulled pork leftovers for me), and mix in the cheese of choice (mozzarella for me). Mix well and pour into the pepperoni lined pie...

Top with more pepperoni and finally top with provolone (again, just a bit more cheese of your choice). I like the toasty look of the cheese on the finished product. I aslo like using provolone or fresh hard Parmesan cheese as a topping. It does melt, but it stays where you put it, doesn't ooze into the pie.

But wait... what about the garlic advertised in the header???

Here's where it really gets appealing to guys. Real men eat quiche with a garlic sauce. Or, if you are not lucky enough to have come home from a recent New Orleans vacation, with a suitcase full of AMAZING products not available in your store, you can order mail order from the CAJUN GROCER, and buy some CAJUN POWER GARLIC SAUCE...


or substitute...

Add a couple table spoons of BBQ sauce... Worcestershire sauce... maybe a sprinkling of your favorite hot sauce, soy sauce or even spicy brown mustard... Just something to add a little za za zing to the quiche... MAKE A MAN QUICHE!!!

Bake 350 for 50 minutes...

And all the ladies say OOOOHHHH AAAAHHHHHH...

And the men will turn up their nose at the idea of eating quiche until they taste it and then they'll all say...

grunt, grunt, GOOD EATS, grunt grunt!!!