Late Brunch on the First Cold Day

After snacking on sourdough muesli bread upon rising late on the first cold day in the country, none of us was particularly hungry for breakfast. Around 2 pm, though, knowing that dinner was a good five hours away, we started getting antsy. I had brought some red Russian kale with us from home that I'd gotten at the farmer's marktet because it looked so good, and I knew we had eggs and cheese in the house, so I wondered if I could make a quiche. I'd never made a quiche before, so I consulted our friends' extensive library and found a book by Julia Child basically describing how to cook everything. Our friend volunteered a frozen pie crust leftover from some other time, and it was on. My first quiche-making experience commenced.

What follows is a tasty adaptation of the spinach-swiss quiche in the Julia Child book.

Red Russian Kale, Cheddar, Bacon and Roasted Onion Quiche

3 tbsp chopped roasted onion
2 tbsp butter
10 oz stemmed, washed, chopped, and stir fried kale
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 large eggs
2 cups milk or cream (or one cup of each)
1 cup grated cheddar
3 strips bacon, cooked, chopped
seasonings: salt, pepper, nutmeg
9 inch pie shell

Bake the pie crust. Best to place pie weights in the bottom and cover the side crust-tops with either aluminum foil, or by placing a cookie sheet on the top rack over the pie shell. You can brush the bottom with egg white to form a kind of seal. Bake at 250. If you don't bake the pie crust first, the quiche will be mushy.

Cook the bacon in a pan and remove the slices, chop and set aside.

Saute garlic and kale in the remaining bacon fat and butter, set aside to cool.

Sprinkle half the grated cheese on the bottom of the cooled pie crust.

Blend eggs and cream (or milk) with the roasted chopped onion, bacon bits, seasonings, and cooked kale.

Pour over the sprinkled cheese into the pie crust. Top the custard with remaining cheese, evenly distributed.

Season the top of the pie with salt and pepper (don't use too much salt!) and bake for 35 minutes at 350.

Slice and enjoy!