Hugely Successful Christmas Breakfast

Okay, so a food photographer I'm not! Despite my great anticipation, I managed to take a photo of this puffy quiche before digging in and finding it exceeded even my too-high expectations. The recipe is totally simple, and the secret's in the cheese. (Yes, that's a molten cheese lake in the center.)

This recipe also has an interesting history: it was contributed to a church cookbook by the wife of the then-Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. I once went to a church party at their house where one of the main attractions (for me, anyway) was that they were fostering newborn lambs in a playpen in the kitchen, it being a typical N.H. January and too cold in the barn for the little ones. You haven't lived until you've held an adorable lamb baby in your arms during a party. Trust me on that one.

Crustless Easy Quiche

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper (I never measure)
4 oz. cheddar cheese, grated (I used ***Cabot brand habanero cheese***)
Spinach, broccoli, bacon, onion, mushrooms, whatever (I used bacon and mushrooms)

Grease pie plate with butter. Place cooked meat and/or vegetables in plate. Beat eggs. Add flour, milk, and seasonings. Add 3/4 of the shredded cheese. Pour into pie plate and bake 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Don't overbake. Remove and sprinkle with remaining cheese, then bake about 2 minutes more.

This is almost as good the second day, nuked in the microwave for a few minutes.