Quiche Bites - in Little Black Dress Attire!

Are you kidding? Do you really expect me to believe this?......................

Right............ you're telling me that you grease mini muffin pans, add a teaspoon of bread crumbs, whip up a few eggs with some other savory ingredients, spoon a bit of the egg mixture on top of the bread crumbs and bake............?????........... and the results are delicious miniature golden herbed quiches with a crunchy, buttery, intriguing crust that keeps you guessing .......... really?  Come on! You really want me to believe this craziness?

Yup, I'm here to tell you it's true! I saw this recipe on the Incredible Egg website and was.......... um, how do I say it?......... I was all of these (click). But my curiosity was piqued, after all, eggs are what these folks do for a living, right?  So I took the basic recipe and had some fun with it. But I wasn't sure I wanted to check out the results in the oven after the 15 minute bake ............ (drum roll, please) ............. What a nice surprise - look at the pictures and you'll see what I mean ............. lovely, puffed, cheesy bites of deliciousness!

Still a bit leery, it was the first bite that completely sold me ..............YUM! ......... the flavors blend together beautifully........... so simple, so delicious! Try these out soon on your family/friends. They're easy enough to throw together on a week day, but special enough for a fancy brunch. They would also make a fabulous appetizer/snack for your Super Bowl Party.

P.S. If you are a frequent flyer at The Café, you know all about Little Black Dress Recipes but if you're new here, it's a simple concept; just like the infamous little black dress in the fashion world, Little Black Dress Recipes are versatile, can be dressed up or down and work for many occasions. I used Italian chicken sausage, potatoes, fresh basil, cheddar and goat cheese in my Quiche Bites but really the sky's the limit. Feel free to change out the cheese, the sausage, leave out the potatoes, use whatever herbs you have, really, whatever strikes your fancy! I took a plateful of these to my daughter-in-law and she loved them. She suggested that a fun rendition would be with bacon and blue cheese - brilliant!

Italian Sausage & Potato Quiche Bites with Cheddar & Goat Cheese

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup Panko* bread crumbs
4 large eggs
⅓ cup half and half
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 small potato, about 2 ounces, cooked, cooled and diced
1 link chicken sausage, pre-cooked, crumbled
3 medium green onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Place goat cheese in the freezer while you prepare the quiches - 10-15 minutes in the freezer will make it much easy to crumble later.

2. Heat oven to 350°F.

3. Generously spray 24 mini-muffin cups with cooking spray, then wipe with a paper towel to completely coat. Place a small amount of melted butter in each muffin cup (about 1/4 teaspoon)

4. Pat 1 rounded teaspoon of Panko in the bottom of each cup.

5. Beat eggs, half-and-half, and salt in medium bowl until blended. Add cheese, potato, Italian sausage and fresh basil; mix well. Spoon evenly into the mini-muffin cups, about 1 tablespoon each. Remove goat cheese from freezer and divide evenly over the tops. Sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper.

6. Bake on lowest rack in 350°F oven until lightly browned and set, about 15-20 minutes. Cool on rack 5 minutes. Loosen quiches from sides of muffin cups with a thin knife. Remove from cups; serve warm. Garnish with finely chopped fresh herbs, if desired.

Notes:

Panko are a type of Japanese bread crumbs. They are very crisp and crunchy and are available nowadays at most grocers, ask if you can't find them. If you don't have any luck finding Panko, just use regular bread crumbs.

Adapted from The Incredible Egg website

PRINTABLE RECIPE