France -- New Mexico. New Mexico -- France.

I WAS LATE getting home tonight because of various classes and meetings I had to attend. But waiting on the stove was a delicious quiche that Kerri made. Now, we have quiche quite often (how French of us!) but this one was a little different because it had a distinctively non-French flavor. Kerri got a bit creative this time and tried a Southwest-style quiche -- and I mean Southwest as in New Mexico not Southwest as in Pau. It's not very often that something I eat for dinner makes me want to logon to Blogger to write about it (especially if Kerri's cooking...zinger!!). But this quiche was so terrific that I'm going to share.

Our 'standard' quiche involves all the traditional ingredients -- a couple eggs, some milk or cream, and a bit of cheese -- and some add-ons like tomatos, roasted red peppers, onions, asparagus, or even broccoli. We also prefer to use a different kind of crust, eschewing the standard 'pie crust' in favor of the pâte feuilletée, which is basically a puff pastry that you can buy ready-to-go in every supermarket in France. But tonight's inspiration involed adding tomato, loads of fresh cilantro, southwest seasoning, and a generous dose of salsa (a nice serrano chile would be great if you want even more heat). After plating our quiche we added a healthy dollup of sour cream in order to let the Southwestern theme fully reveal itself.

For whatever reason (perhaps because I miss Tex-Mex flavors so much or perhaps because I was so hungry after a long day) this meal was absolutely delicious. Oh, and before you declare the dish an unhealthy circus of fat and cholesterol you should know that Kerri used just three eggs, milk -- not cream, a very little amount of cheese, and non-fat sour cream. Plus, the huge salad that accompanied the quiche quickly scrubbed away any remnants of the eggs or cheese.
CJS