Quiche

Quiche kind of disappeared from our consciousness after to much exposure in the late '70s, coupled with dire warnings from the cholesterol cops in the '80s, placed it on the "What's Out" lists.But this quiche is so quick and easy that its a true comeback contender in the '90s.1! Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie4 cups thinly sliced, unpeeled zucchini1 cup coarsely chopped onion1/2 cup margarine or butter1/2 cup chopped parsley or 2 tablespoons parsley flakes1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon black pepper1/2 teaspoon garlic powder1/4 teaspoon basil leaves1/4 teaspoon oregano leaves2 eggs, well beaten8 ounces (2 cups)

Jareene Barkdoll of Baltimore was hoping we would be able to find the recipe for the Southwestern-style quiche served at the Severn Inn in Annapolis. A friend treated her to Sunday brunch at the inn for her birthday, and she so enjoyed the quiche that she wanted to re-create it at home. She said it was served with an avocado salsa and topped with black beans. Philip Sokolowski, executive chef at the Severn Inn, was kind enough to share his recipe for the quiche. What makes this quiche unusual, aside from the Southwestern seasoning, is that the typical pastry crust is replaced with tortillas.

From elitist French fare to kitsch cuisine to standard deli food, quiche seems finally to have found a permanent niche on the U.S. culinary scene.In its most ancient form, quiche (from "kuchen," German for "little cake") was a savory pie with a bread base. Contemporary quiches have shells of pastry or phyllo (some are crustless) and imaginative fillings with cheese, vegetables, seafood or vegetarian combinations.Butter-braised leeks and a hint of mustard flavor this cheese quiche.Leek-Gruyere QuicheServes 63 large leeks, trimmed and cleaned2 tablespoons butterEgg Pastry for Quiche, unbaked (recipe below)

Bonjour 6070 Falls Road, 410-372-0238. Winter hours: 7:30 a.m.-noon Mondays; 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. It is hard to visit a French bakery and not eat sweets. But the savories at Bonjour proved to be delectable takeout items for a quick lunch and a fast dinner. This small shop near Lake Avenue often has a flag flying outside. In warm weather, a bicycle or two is parked outside and a cyclist or two is inside, carb-loading. The quiche is made daily by Gerard Billebault, his wife, Gayle Brier, and their staff.

A cookie and a quiche take top billing in taste. Joan Bourquin of Severna Park requested a recipe for Copper Mountain Quiche, which, she notes, "appeared in the Sun Magazine years ago."Susan Forsberg of Baltimore and Claire Albert of Columbia sent in identical recipes for the quiche. Ms. Albert writes that she cut it from The Sun several years ago and was glad to be reminded of it. "It is as good as ever," she wrote.Copper Mountain QuicheMakes 8 servings1/2 cup butter4 ounces cream cheese1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour1 pound fresh spinach, washed and trimmed or 1 package (10 ounces)

Quiche has so much going for it. It's easy to make, makes a great impression and, once you get the basic formula, you can dress it up or down with whatever happens to be in the fridge or pantry. Because quiche requires at least 25 minutes of cooking, we've used a lot of shortcuts in its preparation here: store-bought crust (refrigerated or frozen), prepackaged shredded cheese blends, pre-sliced mushrooms and bagged greens all contribute to a speedy preparation time. And another thing: Many quiche recipes call for pans with removable bottoms, but you can bypass the fussiness with a glass or ceramic pie pan - it'll work fine.

Gertrude McSpiritt from East Windsor, N.J., was looking for a simple quiche recipe that would be suitable to teach her 10-year-old grandchild. She is 86 years old and still loves to cook but she "can't cope with a long recipe." Terrill Ross from Salem, Ore., sent in a recipe for Goodnight Quiche that "is very easy and very good." Because the recipe calls for a frozen pie shell, it takes no time to make and is virtually fail-safe. It has only a few basic ingredients and the only extra step is browning the ground beef.

From: Midshipmen Food Services Division. April 2000. Food survey, conducted of 282 food items currently prepared for entire brigade of 4,000 midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. Survey results will be used in preparation of revised menu for upcoming Plebe Summer. Midshipmen who participated in the biannual survey (35 percent of brigade) received a 20-ounce Mountain Dew and a "giant Rice Krispie treat." Source: U.S. Naval Academy. Frequency table (percentage of midshipmen expressing approval of the following items)

Late last month, good friends telephoned to invite us to dinner, but the week before the party, the hostess was called out of town because of an illness in her family. Hearing this, I was certain that the get-together would be canceled, but this was not the case. Arriving home just two days before the scheduled event, she called to assure us that she would be entertaining that evening. I couldn't imagine how she was going to undertake all the cooking herself, so I volunteered to bring a dish.

In our love affair with quiche, we've gone through all of the stages of a longstanding, complicated relationship. When first introduced by Julia Child and friends to quiche Lorraine in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, we were seduced by its silky, creamy custard studded with crisp bits of bacon. We fell into the heady excitement of a new love when chefs began adding luxurious slivers of smoked salmon and Black Forest ham and sun-dried tomatoes. With the publication of Real Men Don't Eat Quiche by Bruce Feirstein and Lee Lorenz in 1982, our passion began to cool and quiche became somewhat of a joke.

The good news for Baltimore chef Jill Snyder was that she had much more screen time on Episode 2 of this season's Top Chef. The bad news was that she was eliminated. The judges found fault with not only her ostrich-egg quiche (looked like "dog food," tasted like "glue"), but her half-hearted defense at the judges' table, too. An earlier Quickfire Challenge involving hot dogs didn't go so well for her either, when she appeared to take an easy way out with the assignment by not "making" her own hot dog. Snyder's next step is uncertain - she has left Red Maple, where she was executive chef.

You know it is garden-glut season when free zucchini sit untouched outside the garden gate; when bags of tomatoes appear in the office; and when summer squash shows up at every potluck supper. This is the season of plentitude, of bounty, of overkill. It is in full bloom in August but its roots go back to the enthusiasms of April. That is when we gardeners succumbed to the notion of planting extra rows of vegetables. Now those once-timid seedlings have morphed into towers of hairy vegetation, pushing out produce faster than the assembly line at the old Broening Highway plant used to push out Chevys.

Gertrude McSpiritt from East Windsor, N.J., was looking for a simple quiche recipe that would be suitable to teach her 10-year-old grandchild. She is 86 years old and still loves to cook but she "can't cope with a long recipe." Terrill Ross from Salem, Ore., sent in a recipe for Goodnight Quiche that "is very easy and very good." Because the recipe calls for a frozen pie shell, it takes no time to make and is virtually fail-safe. It has only a few basic ingredients and the only extra step is browning the ground beef.

Wes Long from Loudon, Tenn., was looking for a recipe for Asparagus Soup. Rose Norris of Santa Rosa, Calif., responded with a recipe she found years ago in her local newspaper that she thought he would enjoy. She says that when asparagus is in season, she and her husband enjoy this delicious soup. Now that asparagus is in the stores year-round, this soup can be made any time of year, but the spring crop is usually the best and most affordable. Recipe requests Gertrude McSpiritt from East Windsor, N.J., would like to have a simple quiche recipe suitable to teach her 10-year-old grandchild.

Quiche has so much going for it. It's easy to make, makes a great impression and, once you get the basic formula, you can dress it up or down with whatever happens to be in the fridge or pantry. Because quiche requires at least 25 minutes of cooking, we've used a lot of shortcuts in its preparation here: store-bought crust (refrigerated or frozen), prepackaged shredded cheese blends, pre-sliced mushrooms and bagged greens all contribute to a speedy preparation time. And another thing: Many quiche recipes call for pans with removable bottoms, but you can bypass the fussiness with a glass or ceramic pie pan - it'll work fine.

If ever a cookbook belonged in a gift basket instead of in your kitchen library, Loaves, Cakes & Quiches (Hachette Illustrated, 2003, $9.95) is it. Compiled by the monomial Ilona and beautifully illustrated with the photographs of Akiko Ida, it is a slim and pretty collection of recipes for desserts, breakfast breads and quiches, and the perfect addition to a shower or wedding present. Though it includes some interesting variations - pumpkin-and-cheese quiche, Roquefort, pear and walnut loaf - and some old favorites - tarte tatin, strawberry and rhubarb tart - it is not comprehensive or well edited.

Bonjour 6070 Falls Road, 410-372-0238. Winter hours: 7:30 a.m.-noon Mondays; 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. It is hard to visit a French bakery and not eat sweets. But the savories at Bonjour proved to be delectable takeout items for a quick lunch and a fast dinner. This small shop near Lake Avenue often has a flag flying outside. In warm weather, a bicycle or two is parked outside and a cyclist or two is inside, carb-loading. The quiche is made daily by Gerard Billebault, his wife, Gayle Brier, and their staff.

Item: Ms. Desserts frozen quicheServings per package: 8Cost: $15Preparation time: 1 hourReview: A friend of a friend has actually served these to guests and passed them off as homemade. Credit the thick crust (a tad sweet), the ample size and the hearty filling. I sampled the quiche Lorraine and appreciated the pleasant blend of black pepper and nutmeg with the cheese and plentiful slivers of ham. Other flavors include spinach, broccoli Cheddar, and an Italian blend made with zucchini and tomatoes.

I knew instantly that Kaidanoff's Broadway Delicatessen was my kind of place. The Rolling Stones were blaring on the sound system and there were Three Stooges photographs on the wall. In a corner stood a mannequin autographed by John Waters, Mink Stole and Patty Hearst. The deli occupies a small storefront surrounded on three sides by the U-shaped Bertha's in the heart of Fells Point. The menu features a few salads and a bunch of deli-style sandwiches, many of which are burdened with Baltimore-inspired names.

QUICHE-EATERS -- Democrat quiche-eaters, not the Republican kind -- gave us Supermax, the 300-bed tomb of a penitentiary that the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services wants to tear down just 14 years after it opened. It opened, in one of the most grotesque celebrations ever conceived (but typical of the 1980s), with black tie and evening gowns, and dozens of Maryland judges, politicians, Schaefer administration officials and even clergy sipping champagne and munching on grapes and quiche.