PROTO-ARCHITECTURE

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “From an Architect’s Table”

Ok, never before seen, never before published, here is the official Brown Family Holiday Breakfast Quiche.  If you think you’re too manly for this meal, I dare you to get down two whole pieces and not unbutton your sleepy pants. 

Cook time: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb sausage
12 slices of bacon
4 eggs
2 cups heavy cream (or 2% milk)
3/4 t salt
dash of nutmeg, sugar, cayenne pepper
2 cups natural Gruyère cheese, shredded
Poppy seeds
Large deep dish pie shell

Directions

1] Fry sausage and drain on paper towel.

2] Fry bacon until done, but not crisp, drain.

3] Beat together eggs, heavy cream, salt, nutmeg, sugar, cayenne pepper.

4] Rub 1 T butter around pie crust, prick crust, sprinkle with poppy seeds.

5] Put in 1/2 of the cheese and all of the bacon and sausage. Pour egg mixture over meat and  top with the rest of the cheese.

6] Place in oven on pan and bake at 350° for 60 minutes.

Nope.  There’s no typo.  Yes, you can fit this much in your pie pan.  No, really you can.

Ok, this is the straight up official directions, but as with any family recipe there are a few secrets we don’t tell everyone, but for this blog post I’m telling you.  The first thing you’ll want to do is not buy the fancy shmancy expensive, Gruyère at your local cheesemonger.  No, what you need is the cheap, processed smoked Gruyère from Boar’s Head which will melt like Velveeta on a grilled cheese sandwich, but with all the beautiful Swiss sharpness of a good Gruyère.  It may be hard to find, only a few grocers sell it, but look for it.  Kroger is our local purveyor.  You can also see that my mom tends to buy an extra pie crust and cuts out adorable holiday cookie cutter shapes to decorate the edge.  Knock yourselves out.

The other trick here is the timing.  You can make this all at once and cook it and it’s great, BUT it’s just as great if you cook all the bacon & sausage before, grate the cheese, form the pie crust and assemble it all except for the egg/cream mixture, which you can put in the fridge the night before and pull out, say Christmas morning.  When I was growing up, what my mom would do is prep it all the night before then when we woke them at some ungodly hour and rushed down for presents, mom would make the mixture while we starter to go through our stockings and then pop it into the oven.  About 45-60 minutes later, when we’re finished opening all the gifts, the brilliant scent of melting cheese, baking crust and warm bacon will have filled the house.

Mmmm…enjoy.

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Bob Borson – Life of An Architect (@bobborson)
http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/margaritas-especial-del-arquitecto-de-texas/

Matthew Stanfield – FiELD9: architecture (@FiELD9arch)
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