Sunday, May 23, 2010

BLT Quiche with Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes & Swiss & Feta Cheese



Did you ever get a recipe in your head???


And just consider the possibilities...


Were you paying attention to yesterday's post?  BLT Spaghetti with Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes.  A new twist on a classic.  As I said yesterday, the caramelizing of the tomatoes, combined with all the extra layers of flavor makes this something special.  The spaghetti made a fun addition, and made a sandwich into a suitable evening meal.  It was a wonderful recipe, but it got me thinking about what else i could do with the basic idea...


This came to me in a dream... really!


Frightening, but I have had a couple of dreams where I ended up with recipes.


Bacon... breakfast food.


Spinach (the lettuce in the BLT Recipe)... A Quiche (breakfast food).


Caramelized Tomatoes... I am setting myself as the Pied Piper of Caramelized Tomatoes.  Listen to me now and believe me later, these are good... Really good!


So, it's to be a quiche!  Take a second and reread yesterday's post.  I went into great detail, with lots of photos to illustrate the way to make the basic.  Here's a short version of the recipe to jog your memory if you have already read the post...
4 strip Bacon, save the drippings, crumble the bacon
1 cup 
Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
1/2 tsp 
Sugar
1/2 cup thinly sliced 
Sweet Onions (Vidalia if possible)
1/4 cup dry 
White Wine
1/2 cup 
Chicken Stock
1 tsp 
Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 tsp 
Red Pepper Flakes
4 ounces 
Spaghetti
1 cup 
Spinach Leaves
1 TBS mixed 
Italian Herbs
1/4 cup freshly grated 
Parmesan Cheese


Cook the Bacon in a large non-stick pan.  You are going to use this pan for the rest of the recipe, so don't be cheap on the size of the pan.  Discard all but 1 TBS of the drippings.


Add the tomatoes to the bacon drippings, sprinkle the sugar on top and sauté for about 5 minutes.  At the end of 5 minutes, you will see the tomatoes start to brown.  Now, add the onions and sauté for another 5 minutes.
De-glaze the pan with the white wine.  Continue simmering till the wine is reduced by half.  Then add the vinegar and chicken stock and again stir and simmer till the liquid is again reduced by half.

Remove from the heat... Add the herbs and mix well.  Whatever you have fresh, oregano, thyme, rosemary, even dill or parsley.  Add the crumbled bacon, and allow to completely cool.
And while the Caramelized Tomatoes and Onions are cooling, let's start working on the quiche portion...


3 Eggs
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup shredded Arugula
1 cup shredded Swiss Cheese
1/2 cup Feta Cheese
1 prepared Pie Shell (I cheated a bit, and used a frozen shell, but it came to me in a dream, so I ran to the store and bought a shell to make a quick same morning quiche... Next time, fresh made shell, this time, cheater shell).


Also, the arugula makes an interesting ingredient.  If you have never cooked with it before, it has quite an interesting bite that adds yet one more layer of flavor to the dish.




Whip the eggs, add the cream and whip lightly.


Pour the egg mixture in the pie shell.


Mix in the caramelized Tomatoes, Onions and Bacon, the Arugula and the Swiss Cheese.


Top with the Feta.


Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes, until the egg has set.




Real men caramelize tomatoes...


Real men eat this quiche
...

13 comments:

  1. That first photo is beautiful! It's got my stomach growling.

    Some of the best ideas come to me in my dreams. Now if only I could remember them in the morning...

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  2. Now that is a good looking quiche. That's so funny about the dreams. Last night I dreamed about meatballs and hot pepper jelly. Will have to turn that into something.

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  4. This looks wonderful Dave! I have so many eggs and I was just thinking last night that I should make a quiche! I guess great minds think alike!

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  5. I really love the way this looks, Dave. Quite a good idea, actually. I love quiche and this has just gone on my to-do list. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  6. That top picture could be in a magazine. It's that pretty.

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  7. I dreamed about a recipe the other night too. Either you and I have begun "lucid dreaming" or we have both gotten too much into cooking, ha ha.

    Nice follow up to your spaghetti, Dave.

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  8. Looks yummy, I made Quiche myself this morning, but mine was overcooked :(

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  9. I am thinking that us foodies dream a lot about food -it's understandable seeing that is mostly what we think about :-)

    Your quiche looks very appetizing. Great for any meal of the day.

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  10. That 1st photo is great. This is so odd. Friday for lunch we went to a new restaurant and they table next to us all ordered these beautiful gourmet blt sandwiches. I've been craving them, sign on to read your blog and look what you've done!!! This really looks good.

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  11. My hubby would be all about this quiche! I love all of the flavorful ingredients you have in this recipe.

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  12. You are so creative, cher! This quiche looks fab! And I see what you mean about being busy! Cheers!

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  13. Another great use of caramelised tomatoes!

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