"Thistle Be Fun"

Eric and I had a few close friends over for brunch yesterday and I wish I had taken a picture of the table! Christine made a beautifully plummy fruit salad which perfectly complemented the quiche and the french toast. Thanks to Regine, Christine, Madhavi, and Eric for such a perfectly pleasant final fall Saturday in Washington Heights!

I have been wanting to upload some of my most successful cooking recipes here for a while. After some rather extensive Internet research, I found this lovely artichoke quiche recipe at Food.com. (I did double the amount of mozzarella from 4 oz. to 8 oz. per the suggestion in the comments section.) I (heart) brunch!

ARTICHOKE QUICHE

Serves: 6
Servings: 1 nine inch quiche
Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, well drained
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 eggs
• 3 -4 tablespoons grated romano cheese
• 4-8 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced
• 1 -2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup light cream
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust (bottom only)

Directions:
1. Cut artichoke hearts into quarters, or large dice.
2. In frying pan over low heat, add oil, saute whole garlic cloves for a minute or so.
3. Add artichoke hearts and saute them until they start to brown.
4. Remove garlic cloves, and let the artichokes cool.
5. In a bowl, beat the eggs, add the cream, Romano and mozzerella cheeses and pepper, mixing well.
6. Add the artichokes and the oil from the pan to the egg mixture, mix well.
7. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
8. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 35 minutes or until filling is set and just starts to brown.

P.S. Heads up, book your flights, and mark your calendars! Saturday and Sunday May 21st - 22nd, 2011 the Castroville Artichoke Festival will be here before you know it!