Asparagus-Gruyère Quiche

After last year's movie Julie and Julia brought attention to the book and blog heralding Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," I thought a lot about my go-to cookbooks.  I own hundreds, maybe thousands, of cookbooks.  But there are only a handful that are in weekly rotation: "Joy of Cooking," "Aquavit," "Better Homes and Gardens," my Gaylord church cookbook with the weathered yellow laminated cover, and "Cooking with Style."

Never heard of "Cooking with Style"?  This cookbook came with my first set of knives, back when Chicago Cutlery was locally owned and still created quality tools (never on par with my beloved Gustavs, but certainly a fine starter set).  Like Julie Powell, I cooked my way through this cookbook.  Unlike Julie, there was not a public format from which I could discuss the resulting meals.

I was twenty years old and unfamiliar with a kitchen except for a long stint at St. Anthony Main Pizzeria. Living overseas, I didn't have access to the ingredients or equipment that were available in Minnesota, which meant creativity when preparing evening meals from a gourmet cookbook (gourmet was a new and exciting word in middle-class American vernacular).  My menus warbled from magnificent and triumphant to catastrophic and inedible. 

And I learned a lot, like how to hone my knives properly.  I developed some decent knife skills, learned to read recipes prior to assembling the ingredients (especially important when the recipe calls for meat to be braised for two hours prior to making the full dish - the night of Chimichangas we went hungry), and about the varying spices of different cuisines.  Best, once I understood the foundations of a recipe I began to experiment and weaned myself off strict reproduction.  This quiche recipe is an example of that experimentation. 

Prior to 1985 I hadn't even tasted quiche.  The Classic Quiche Lorraine recipe in "Cooking with Style" can't be beat.  Here is my updated Mother's Day version with asparagus and Gruyère.

Asparagus-Gruyère Quiche
5 slices bacon
Handful chives
4 beaten eggs
1 cup light cream
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper
Dash nutmeg
Zest from 1 lemon
5 ounces shredded Gruyère
1 1/2 cups asparagus, chopped and blanched with stems removed from tips
Pastry for single-crust pie

In a skillet cook bacon till crisp; drain and crumble bacon; set aside.  Stir together eggs, cream, milk, flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and lemon zest.  Stir in bacon, chives, and cheese; mix well. 

Prepare pastry for single-crust pie.  Prick bottom of pastry with fork.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or till pastry is nearly done.  Remove from oven; reduce oven temperature to 325.

Place stems of asparagus over HOT crust bottom.  Pour egg mixture over asparagus.  Place asparagus tips on top in pretty pattern.  Bake in 325 oven for 45 to 50 minutes or till a knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.