OK, here's the quiche recipe, along with some notes - I love quiche! I also have a triple mushroom quiche recipe that's divine, and a fabulous southwestern quiche (it uses a brown rice crust).
Aztec Quiche
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese
1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Half and Half (fat free works fine, but I usually grab the regular)
5 eggs, beaten lightly (I've used up to 7 or 8 eggs, depending on their size, always turns out fine)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cumin
1 4-ounce diced green chilies (NOT jalapenos, unless you like it HOT)
You'll need a pie crust/shell of some sort when you bake it - pre-made frozen shells, or the boxed kind work fine.
I combine all the ingredients together in medium bowl. You can use more or less of the cumin, depending on your taste. Also, you can drain out the juice of the peppers, too, if you don't want that much chilies flavor. Pour into a quart freezer bag, label, and freeze lying flat.
To use, thaw in the fridge overnight or in the microwave on a defrost setting. Pour into a pie shell and bake, uncovered, at 325 for 45 to 55 minutes - until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean (it'll be a little wet looking, but not covered in egg). You can sprinkle the top with additional cheese before baking.
Can be served hot, room temperature, or cold. Enjoy!
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If you want to make and bake it the same night, sprinkle half the cheese and the chilies in the bottom of the pie shell, combine eggs, half and half, seasonsings and pour carefully into the pie shell. Top with remaining cheese and bake.
I should add - I always freeze these ahead of time. On hectic nights I'll pull one out and thaw it in the microwave while I'm putting the pre-made crust in the pan (I keep a box of these in the fridge, since I can't seem to figure out how to make decent pie crust). I don't thaw it all the way, because I'm always afraid it'll start baking in the microwave. So I'll pour it into the quiche pan with some ice crystals still in it (break the bigger frozen chunks up in the bag) - bakes up great.
I've frozen these for up to five months in our big upright freezer and they've been fine. Sometimes I'll lay thin slices of fresh tomato on top before baking.
Also, for the pancakes, I just follow the buttermilk pancake recipe in the old red/white checked Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, but increase it by 6 times - it takes 2 quarts of buttermilk, but it makes up a ton of pancakes. I'll let them cool on cooling racks, stack them up and put 4 stacks into a gallon-sized freezer bag. If you don't cool them first, they tend to stick together when frozen and are hard to get apart. My kids can throw 'em in the microwave for 15 seconds to thaw them, then in the toaster oven to toast them up. We alternate making pancakes with waffles every weekend and always have a stash of them in the freezer - all of our school-aged kids have to be out the door by 7:45, so this saves my sanity in the mornings.
Marty - no thanks on the rooster! Can you report the loud rooster anonymously? I'm a big weenie when it comes to confrontations with neighbors - luckily I have great neighbors right now. I can't remember where you are - aren't you in Sandy, but unincorporated SL County? I seem to remember something about you being able to have a large number of birds, but is there any regulation on roosters? Here in Highland, you can have roosters, but I only know a couple of folks who have them - one neighbor with a rooster is about 1/3 mile away and we can hear him every once in a while - but it's far enough away that it's not too irritating (and we can't hear it inside our house, which is where I am in the early AM). Our friend who lives closer to them HATES that rooster. I guess he crows a lot in the middle of the night. Another friend has 30 acres and they have several roosters because their 50 or so chickens range all over - the roosters each have their own little circle of gals that they protect and they do hatch out their own chicks (but they name all the cockerels "Crock Pot").
Why does your neighbor want a rooster? I mean, are they intending to hatch out their own chicks? I can't think of any reason to have a rooster in a suburban area - there aren't that many daytime predators. Do they get slapped with a fine for having a loud rooster? Maybe if they get turned in enough, they'll quit getting roosters.
