The Perfect Dinner Party: Easy, Delicious and Homemade!

I had a good friend over for dinner the other night, and it was a delicious and a wonderful way to reconnect. Not only that, I was able to serve something seasonal, totally homemade--- that was elegant and inexpensive. Quiches are the perfect spring food because they celebrate our gorgeous spring eggs, and you can incorporate all the spring bounty without much fuss. An easy quiche from scratch, you ask? Well I cheated a bit, this crust is not a traditional French one, but it works fantastically well. You do not miss meat when you have this glorious piece of quiche in front of you. My mother made quiche a lot. I thought it was because she had grown up partially in France, but this is only part of the story. Truth be told that with a little bit of effort, you can create something fantastic for your friends and family with very few ingredients.
I served it with fresh mesclun (which is best in early summer) that was dressed with a light vinaigrette that I put fresh sage, chives, and thyme in. Really brightens up the dish. Luckily, my friend brought a wonderful bottle of wine(I had forewarned her about the quiche) and the wine she choose was the PERFECT accompaniment for the quiche. The wine was from Alsace, France and called Willm Riesling which was bright, floral and tart against the richness of the dish, and its floral notes played with the herbs in the salad. Lovely. Who knew dry Rieslings were so good? I guess the French!

Fresh Spinach and Onion Quiche

For the easy crust

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 stick butter, cut into eight pieces
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons cream

Preparation for easy crust:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. In a food processor process flour, butter tabs and salt until crumbly then add cream until smooth.(you can also use a fork, and a bowl)
   
3. Using a rolling pin, and two sheets of wax paper, roll into a 10 inch circle and place in 9 inch pie pan. Using a fork, prick the crust all over, you can use the fork to make an attractive crust by pressing it against the the pan with the fork.
4. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.

For Quiche Filling:

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion minced
• 2 handfuls of raw spinach, chopped up
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 eggs or 5 small eggs
• a bit of ground nutmeg
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Grate the cheese, beat the eggs and chop the onion and fresh spinach, mix all together with cream and milk, and season. Pour into the pre-baked pie shell.
3. If the spinach is sticking out a bit, you can take the quiche out after 15 minutes and press the spinach
4. Bake at 300 degrees for almost an hour until the quiche becomes golden and firm in the middle when wiggled.

Willm Riesling 2007

More on the wine: I love French wines, for me they are the best value for the best quality and not only that, if you are on the east coast they have the smallest carbon footprint. For just over 10 dollars you have a great wine that plays well with summer food. They recommend serving it with oysters and fish. And because I am on an Icelandic fish kick, you know I am going to get more of this wine.