The Puff (Quiche - from The Cypress B&B)

This recipe is from the now-sadly closed Cypress B&B in Florida. A beautiful little cottage in a beautiful area, the hosts were gracious enough to give me their recipes for some of their most popular breakfast items, including the delicious glazed mango pecan muffins.

While this is called "The Puff", I liken it most to a crust-less quiche, and due to all the varieties of cheeses, stays fabulously moist in the center instead of becoming all baked-out egg. And due to the large quantity, is a great way to just get a bunch of breakfasts out of the way if you're looking forward to a busy week!

• 12 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
• 1/2 lb shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 lb shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1 pint cottage cheese
• 2 cups of your favorite fillings (breakfast meats, rotisserie chicken, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, sauteed onions, etc.)

Servings: 12

1. If you need to pre-cook any vegetables or meats, do so now and then set aside. (See note below.)
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Beat eggs until they are light and fluffy.
4. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Gently mix this and butter into eggs.
5. Add remaining ingredients and stir gently until well blended.
6. Pour into a 9"x13" baking dish.
7. Bake for 35 minutes.

Note: This earns the easy-peasy rating if you go with some pre-cubed or cut up sandwich meats and throw in a bag of frozen veggies.

Also, I really, really hate soggy over-cooked veggies in my quiches. I've discovered that for certain veggies such as asparagus and cauliflower, what works great is the ice-bath after a blanching, which stops the cooking process in its tracks. I try to boil them to JUST the point before they're just-right, and then when they're in the oven, they take that last step so that there's still a little crunch left to the asparagus and the cauliflower isn't just mush when the quiche is done. Mushrooms I sometimes don't bother cooking at all - the oven takes care of them well enough.