Quiche Lorraine

The classic quiche of bacon, eggs, and cream.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 C creme fraiche
Cream to thin out the creme fraiche (typically about 3 T)
Pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 lb bacon, in lardons
pie crust, either store bought or homemade

Preheat oven to 375 F and blind bake the crust until lightly golden (about 10 minutes for a room temperature docked crust without pie weights).  While this is baking brown the bacon over medium low heat, then drain.  Beat together the creme fraiche, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and eggs.  Scatter the bacon on the crust, and pour over the cream mixture.  Bake at 375 until the filling is just set, about 25 minutes.


Variations:
While it would stop being a traditional quiche lorraine you could vary the recipe some by adding sauteed mushroom and/or grated gruyere. Be careful with the salt if using gruyere.

French-Style Garlic Sausage

There aren't any amounts to this, as I wasn't measuring when I made it, and you usually have to adjust it by cooking some and tasting it.  The dominant flavors should be garlic and thyme with an under tone of red wine.

Pork shoulder
Salt pork
Thyme
Garlic
Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
Rich red wine like a burgundy 
A slice or two of slightly stale bread

Grind together the garlic, pork shoulder, salt pork, and bread; I used a coarser grind and only ground it once.  Mix in the spices and check the seasoning by frying up some.  Casing the sausage is optional.

Tomato Bisque

A nice simple creamy tomato soup.  There isn't a whole lot to it, so you need to use the best ingredients - homemade chicken stock and san marzano tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
1 carrot, peeled and minced
4+1 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
2-3 C chicken stock
5 T butter
4 T flour
3/4 C cream, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
3/4 t smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t thyme

Melt the butter and saute the onion, four cloves garlic, carrot, and celery until lightly browned.  Add the thyme and stir for a few seconds.  Add in the flour and stir to make a roux, cooking it for a few minutes.  Add the chicken stock and hand crush the tomatoes into the pot, then add in any juice that was in the can.  Add bay leaf, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or so to blend the flavors, then puree in a blender or with an immersion blender.  Add in the cream and the last clove of garlic and bring back to a simmer, then check the seasoning.  I like to serve it with toasted bread and cheese, whether baked brie or just a grilled cheese.