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12/03/2014
~ Rise & Shine: Creamy Crustless Crabmeat Quiche~
If you are like me, there can never be enough easy and elegant breakfast or brunch recipes in the food world. On my best day I am not a nice person early in the morning. I'm not mean (depending upon who you ask), I just tend to need time to quietly organize my thoughts in the morning. A typical weekday for me entails cooking and cleanup with photography and writing sandwiched in between and afterward. This leaves me protective of my mornings to myself.
That said, I entertain regularly too, and, when I have overnight guests I want their morning meal to be as delicious as their previous nights dinner. My crustless crabmeat quiche is one of my favorite "go to" recipes, especially during the holiday season -- I often serve it for breakfast on Christmas morning or brunch on New Years Day. Besides being festive and elegant, all of the easy prep work can be done a day in advance. In the morning, it takes me a mere 5 minutes to mix it up and pop it in the oven to bake for 50 minutes. Bacon is great, but, my favorite way to serve this is scooped atop a sausage patty alongside a croissant, and, with a Bloody Mary!
In case you've never heard of crustless quiche before, it's worth mention that all quiche recipes are not created equal, meaning: don't try turning every quiche recipe you run across into a crustless one. Those that require layering of ingredients, rather than mixing, are problematic.
1 pound lump crabmeat, the best available, undrained
4 ounces finely-diced shallots or sweet onion
8 ounces grated Gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons Wondra Quick-Mixing Flour for Sauce and Gravy
3 jumbo eggs
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice, fresh or high-quality bottled concentrate
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce, more or less, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
no-stick cooking spray, for preparing quiche dish
8-12 each: 5- 6-ounce sweet sausage patties and croissants (optional)
~ Step 1. In a large mixing bowl, using two forks, toss together the diced shallots, grated cheese and flour, until ingredients are just evenly coated in the flour.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the crabmeat, just until incorporated into the cheese mixture. You don't want ot break up or mash the big lumps of the delicate crabmeat.
Gently spoon the mixture evenly into a 9" quiche dish that has been sprayed with no-stick spray.
~ Step 2. In a 1-quart measuring container, whisk together the eggs, cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, cayenne pepper sauce, nutmeg and white pepper.
Slowly, in a thin stream, drizzle the cream mixture over and around the top surface of the crab mixture.
Go slowly, to give the liquid time to drizzle down into the cracks and crevaces of the light and airy crab mixture. Do not press down on, spread, or stir this mixture.
~ Step 3. Bake on center rack of preheated 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes. Quiche will be golden brown, puffed throughout and a knife inserted into the center will come out clean. Quiche can be served hot, warm or at room temperature (and leftovers reheat perfectly in the microwave the next day too). Scoop and serve this decadent, rich breakfast or brunch entree on warmed serving plates.
For the optional sausage:
4 pounds sweet sausage, the best available, your favorite brand
Note: I prefer to buy the sausage in links and form the patties myself, to ensure they are the proper size: 1 pound of sausage = 3, 5 1/3-ounce patties.
~ Step 4. While quiche is cooling, using a pair of kitchen shears, remove and discard the casings from sausage links. Portion the meat in equal-sized 4"-round patties. Over medium heat, fry until golden on both sides, turning only once, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover with foil and set aside.
Cook's Note: While champagne goes great with this quiche, Bloody Mary's are better. There are a lot of recipes for Bloody Mary's, almost everyone has their own or a favorite place to go and drink one. For my all-time favorite Bloody Mary, the recipe I've been making for almost 35 years (and the only one you'll get served in my kitchen), click into Categories 9, 11, 16, 17 or 18 to read ~ Stan's "Hail Mary, I'm Born Again" Bloody Mary ~!
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2014)
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