Pantry staples...things that every kitchen should have in them, for the most part.  If you do quite a bit
of cooking and like to fuss with it, you probably have a small container of cream, everyone has eggs,
cheese, fresh vegetables, onions, bacon, flour.  What better to put together for a snowy, Wintry
Saturday night than a savory (i prefer writing it as savoury, I love how the British and members of
the Commonwealth spell some words differently than in American English) tart or a quiche.  They
are the same thing.  Quiche, an corruption of the German word Kuchen, meaning cake which took
hold in that my very favorite part of France, Alsace-Lorraine.  Hence the term, Quiche Lorraine, a
savory tart made in the style of Lorraine, France.  The savory tart, whether it be onion, leek, or
bacon, or a combo of them all is a very Gallic item which at somepoint in America's food evolution
became de regueur in the cocktail party kitchen of the 50's and 60's.  Every chic and trendy party
hostess became adept at making the Quiche Lorraine, which then morphed into those nasty little
dry mass produced frozen mini quiches..still hanging on in the banquet circuit.  The basic tenets of
quichedom are a pie or tart crust, eggs, cream, sauteed or caramelized onions cooked in bacon
fat, crisped bacon, and good swiss cheese, gruyere being the most popular.
However, I did not make a Quiche Lorraine tonight, I made a savory tart with Baby Spinach, crisp
bacon, gruyere, caramelized diced onion, cream and eggs, pepper and a good grating of nutmeg.
OK, guilty,  it's a Quiche Lorraine with spinach..but you see, I really do not want to be writing a
Quiche blog, it's been done a gazillion times already.  Loyal reader, I beg your indulgence in this
silly game.  Start with a 9 inch cake pan or tart pan and a pie crust (make your own or use one of
the very good brands that are out there, many now with no preservatives in them) for a 9 inch pie.
Press it into the pan and prick the bottom with a fork a few times.  Then blind bake it in a 375degree
oven for 15 minutes, you should see it start to brown.  Reason, it helps the crust under the filling
completely cook and not be soggy or raw after the rest of the pie has finished.  
     Chop 4 slices of good bacon into a small dice and in a skillet, cook the bacon.  When it has
begun to crisp, then add 1 fine diced medium onion.A little salt and pepper, and let this cook until
the onions are soft and are a golden caramel color (that, is caramelization, bringing out the natural
sugars in the vegetable to the surface giving color, sweetness, and flavor).  When this has happened
let it cool.  Sprinkle dry plain breadcrumbs over the surface of the half-baked(silly term) pie crust,
about 2 tbs. Then add the bacon/onion mixture, evenly distributed.

Now add1/2 cup finely diced or shredded gruyere or swiss.  Gruyere, unfortunately is more pricey
but the flavor that it imparts when baked is not matched by regular swiss. Add 1 handful of
washed baby spinach leaves and cover them with 1/2 cup additional gruyere.



In a large bowl, briskly beat 4 eggs plus one yolk, jumbo eggs if possible.  Add 3/4 cup of cream,
heavy for creamier, light for lighter (duh), they both work, but it must be cream, not milk. Add 1/2 tsp.
black pepper, 1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. salt and beat it all together.  Pour the mixture into
the crust slowly so it invades all of the cheese, bacon, onion, and spinach that you have in there.
If it looks like you have too much liquid, stop when the cream mixture meets the top of the crust.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then lower it to a 350 and let it bake for an additional
30 minutes, or when a knife is placed into the center, it comes out clean.  That's it.  One more
savory tart (quiche) rule..let it sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing it.
  This is how the top of
your tart should look.  Keep an eye on it so it doesn't get completely browned over.

  Who doesn't want a slice of that while
relaxing with a glass of wine, beer, soda, iced tea, or Sparkling water on a Saturday night?