Quiche cure to Thanksgiving dinner hangover

It's the day after Thanksgiving. We're usually critter sitting at an alpaca farm near Empire.

While others race to the Black Friday sales at 5 a.m. or earlier, we're snoozing -- until the dogs beg us for their first trip outdoors. One of us does the farm chores while the other cooks breakfast, usually quiche.

For this year's quiche, we used Honor Family Market bacon (which created a sensation on Facebook about eight weeks ago), fresh farm eggs (plucked warm from the coop that morning), and leftover homegrown green beans from the previous day's feast. A little half-and-half, a spoonful of thyme, a couple of scallions, and we were cookin'.

The inspiration for the recipe came straight off the farm shelves, in a cookbook with many easy and incredibly useful tips. You may have heard of it: America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook by the publisher of Cooks Illustrated magazine. The latter refuses to accept advertising, so its writers can share unbiased reviews of kitchen ware, gadgets and, as the book title suggests, tested recipes by knowledgeable cooks. There's a fun America's Test Kitchen PBS-TV show too.

We adjusted the Quiche Lorraine recipe to include the leftover beans and to fit our somewhat smallish piecrust, by reducing the number of eggs and going a bit lighter on the liquid. It was mouthwatering! We tried the pumpkin pie recipe, too, and declared this year's the best we've ever tasted. The filling (we carved a pumpkin) was light, with just the right amount of spice.

Ask for a copy of the America's Test Kitchen cookbook this holiday. Send this link to your Santa's helper: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore/detail.asp?PID=336

Filed under Books