LUCY BURDETTE: At our local farmers market in Connecticut, one vendor sells all kinds of mushrooms. I confess that I am a white mushroom consumer, though I have started using baby Bellas to branch out a bit. But this man's mushrooms look so good that I decided to try a recipe that could use one of his more adventurous varieties. He recommended shiitakes. I found a recipe in the Moosewood cookbook for a mushroom Swiss cheese quiche, and then set about tweaking to taste.
One large onion
1/4 pound mushrooms of your choice
Herbs of your choice (I used dill and thyme from our garden)
Four eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
A couple shakes of Tabasco or cayenne
One crust
Make the crust and set it aside. My father's recipe is pretty darn foolproof, but I tried the Moosewood version this time--cut 6 tablespoons of butter into a cup and a half of flour. Add water one tablespoon at a time until the mixture holds together in a mass. Roll out between two sheets of waxed paper and plop into the 9-inch pie plate. (Delicious, by the way--and not a grain of salt in it!)
Next up: Grate the cheese. Chop the onions and put these to sauté in a tablespoon of olive oil. Wipe the mushrooms down, slice them, and add them to the sauté pan. Cook until soft and slightly brown. Sprinkle in the herbs of your choice.
Whisk together the milk, flour, and eggs and mustard – I used the food processor and it couldn't have been easier. Add a few drops of Tabasco sauce.
Whisk together the milk, flour, and eggs and mustard – I used the food processor and it couldn't have been easier. Add a few drops of Tabasco sauce.
Layer the ingredients into the crust: Cheese, followed by vegetables and herbs, milk and egg mixture.
Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries--find them wherever books are sold! Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest--Instagram too...
Now a question, do you post reviews and photos of books you've read on Instagram? I hear it's quite a thing these days....





