Bacon broccoli and spinach quiche

Tomorrow is pi day (March 14 = 3.14) so in our mathematically inclined (nerdy) house that means we invite friends over and eat pie. This year I'm bucking the trend and making quiche, an egg pie with goodies.

I bought frozen pie crusts because Ladypants didn't have time to make any of her own for me, and I dislike making dough. They are the right shape even if they aren't as tasty as they could be, and besides, it's really all about the filling. I chose caramelized onions, Bacon, spinach, broccoli and feta cheese.

Start by preheating oven to 400 and frying the bacon and the onions because they take the longest. If you are using frozen pie crusts, you should have them out of the freezer at this point. When the bacon is crispy and onions look golden brown, add the broccoli and a big handful of spinach. Cook it just until the broccoli turns bright green and the spinach is wilted. Let it cool a bit while you make the custard. Season everything to taste.


Wisk 4 large free range, grain fed and generally pampered chicken eggs. Add 3/4C milk and 3/4C cream and thyme leaves. On the chalkboard it says 1C cream, but I had a quarter cup of liquid leftover, so don't bother. Mix it well. Add the chunky mix to the bottom of 2 pie crusts, crumble as much feta cheese as you want and pour the well mixed creamy stuff on top. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 for the next 25 minutes. Let them set up a few minutes out of the oven, and eat these great tasting pies.

Bacon Espresso

In the heart of the Jewish section of town, we have done the unthinkable, infused Brian's Steampunk espresso with smoked Bacon. That's right, Bacon. Always capitalized, always delicious. The idea came to us over pints of seasonal Darkside Black IPA at the local Granite micro brew pub. This morning it still sounded good, so I fried some up nice and crispy to try out.

With a good healthy pinch on the bottom of the holder, the espresso struggled to escape its super hot pressurized puck. It was well worth the effort because the resulting brew was better than expected. Few smells are better than frying bacon and brewing coffee. Imagine them combined and you pretty much know the aroma. A mild smokiness combined very nicely with the strong brew.

Bacon made the shot a bit oilier than normal. Not to an unpleasant or even disagreeable degree, but noticeably. The smoky bacon umami lingered on the palate aside the normal coffee aftertaste for quite some time. I liked it quite a bit. While I wouldn't drink it every day, I could see myself enjoying a cup once a week, but Brian didn't like it nearly so much. Possibly to do with the smokey taste. Don't worry bacon lovers, I'll try to turn him around so you can have a taste.

Chicken and Mashed Potaters

I have a great butcher in my neighbourhood. Apart from the complete lack of pork and inexpensive fish, they are pretty much the best. They get some amazing chicken from a local farmer just outside the city. It has way more flavour than anything I've had from the supermarket. They cut up whole chickens there, so the thighs (my favourite part of the chicken) end up with a bit of spine in them, and that means delicious marrow to eat later.

I tried a different marinade than the traditional buttermilk, thinking the beer and yogurt would act the same way to tenderize the chicken. I patted them dry, coated them in barbeque sauce and cornmeal, and baked the thighs for 50 minutes at 350 in the oven. I grilled the drumsticks in my George Foreman grill for 30 minutes. They both turned out really well.

Mashed potatoes needed a bit of a kick, so I caramelized some onions and bacon to add. Instead of butter, I added the chicken drippings from the baked thighs and a few dashes of hot sauce. I will have a hard time going back to regular potatoes. These have raised the bar quite significantly. Next time I'll make them with cauliflower instead of potatoes to help with the nutrition factor.

Here is a picture of Ian eating with super fast, ninja-like hands. His plate was full when I raised the camera; It must have been really tasty.

Polish Poutine & Tomato Feta Salad

I love perogies! They are pretty much the perfect food. Noodles on the outside, creamy potatoes on the inside with flavours of onion, cheese, bacon, or pretty much anything you want to put in them. The best way to eat them is in a dish I like to call the Polish Poutine: Fried perogies topped with loads of sour cream, crispy bacon, deeply caramelized onions and fresh ground black pepper. My heart beats faster every time I think about it. I'm not sure if it from pleasure or palpitations.

This is an incredibly satisfying meal in itself. Sometimes I add spinach, cilantro and/or peas to it just to get some green in there. I made an actual perogie poutine with squeaky curd cheese and rich gravy, but after the first bite novelty wore off it wasn't so great.

You don't really need anything else, but if you don't want to feel like a sac of potatoes yourself, make part of your meal a salad. I know, you don't make friends with salad, but luckily I already have lots of friends. So, here it is. A salad of baby spinach; tomatoes; feta; cilantro; black pepper; and a light homemade dressing of olive oil, cider vinegar and orange ponzu (flavoured soy sauce).

I love avocado in this salad, but I didn't have a ripe one today. Asparagus is also quite nice. Very refreshing.