If you’ve had the pleasure of meeting my mom, you would agree she might be the sweetest, most generous person to ever walk this planet. No, seriously.
Any attempts I make to cover or split the lunch tab are always met with an irrefutable “no”. The only allowed contribution on my part is when we have accumulated enough lunch points at Bistro to get one of our meals free (which, although they are housed in my wallet, are essentially her free lunch cards because she pays for every lunch).
In other words, I’m a complete mooch.
So, I decided I need to start
acting like a responsible 32 year old gainfully employed woman
repaying her for all of our wonderful lunches by having her over from time to time on Saturdays instead of going out.
For our inaugural lunch at home, I decided to make a dish that incorporates all of her favorite foods – smoked salmon, fresh dill (she will literally pick up a sprig an chew on it, ooing and awwing like its a piece of fudge), fresh basil (same strange tendency with the basil), Havarti cheese and quiche.And of course, Mimosas. Our absolute favorite part about a brunch are the Mimosas with fresh squeezed orange juice. When we are visiting NYC, brunch reservations are never made before 12 on a Sunday to avoid the extremely inconvenient to Sunday brunch blue laws. And if there are no Mimosas, then it’s not brunch and we will not attend (at least I will not attend, she probably would attend because she is nice and doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings).
The “Deanna Quiche” was success. The egg was fluffy (I am pretty certain the cream cheese was the main contributing factor in this, so I will be using a mix of cream and cream cheese in all future quiches), the crust was crisp (no thanks to me, thanks to Pillsbury), and the combination of smoked salmon, herbs, Havarti and fresh tomato was insanely delicious.
Even Scott, who despises salmon and tomatoes, commented on how tasty the quiche was was after stealing thee-fourths of the leftovers from the fridge before I woke up on Sunday.
Although, it’s very possible he pulled that maneuver as a preemptive CYA and only tolerated the quiche because he was starving and I used all the eggs in the quiche.
Smoked Salmon, Herb, Tomato and Havarti Quiche
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes to one hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients:
4 eggs
4 ounces of cream cheese, softened at room temperature (about an hour)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound smoked salmon, chopped (or flaked with hands)
1 tomato, diced and drained on a paper towel
1 bunch of dill, chopped (about 2 tablespoons chopped)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic chives
1 tablespoon chopped basil
4 ounces Havarti, shredded
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pie crust
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pie crust into a 10 inch ungreased spring form, pie pan or tart pan (I used a spring form), pressing dough into the corners. Top pie crust with salmon, tomato, herbs, and Havarti. In a medium to large bowl, beat eggs, cream, cream cheese, salt and pepper with a blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour egg mixture evenly over the salmon, tomatoes, herbs and cheese. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until browned on top and set in the center (knife comes out clean). Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
