A wedge of bacon, chive and gruyere quiche wish a side salad, garnished with flower petals on a round white plate. There a mimosa, a nutcracker who looks like a chef and salt & pepper shakers in the background. — Pepé stands proudly behind our bacon, chive & gruyere cheese quiche which we served with side salad that has arugula from my hubby’s garden and a homemade orange champagne vinaigrette. And watch brunch would be complete without a mimosa to wash it down?

Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche

Just kidding! That’s the title of a best-selling tongue-in-cheek book satirizing stereotypes of masculinity by the American screenwriter and humorist Bruce Feirstein, published in 1982. The book was on The New York Times Best Seller list for 55 weeks and sold over 1.6 million copies. An Australian adaptation by Alex Buzo was published later that year – Wikipedia

Yes they do! Real Men DO Eat Quiche

Well, while Pepé may still fear that men will take that book seriously, I’m not worried. I can vouch that this Bacon, Chive and Gruyere Quiche is outstanding. My husband absolutely loves it. Maybe he didn’t read the book. LOL

Chive blossoms make a nice garnish for a quiche. Garnish after baking so they don’t turn brown. When not in season, you can use other edible flowers or none at all.

What type of pan should I use?

9” Spring Form Pan (preferably non-stick)

9.5” to 10” tart pan with removable bottom

Deep Dish Pie Pan

Bacon, eggs, chives, chive blossoms, milk grated gruyere cheese and a box grater, all on wood cutting board with a nutcracker who looks like a chef in the background. — Pepé has gathered our ingredients and is ready to make this awesome quiche for brunch.

Step-By-Step Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C/Gas Mark 6.

Make the crust. In a large bowl stir together the flour and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Then add water and mix with your hands until smooth.

Roll dough out to 1/8” (3 mm) thick. Place in a 9” (23 cm) spring-form pan (shown here), tart pan or deep dish pie pan.

Folding dough in quarters is a helpful way to transfer dough and to center it in your pan.

Press dough up the side of the pan at least 1 1/2” (4 cm). Pierce the dough all over with a fork.

Either use pie weights to hold to dough in place before baking or aluminum foil. If using foil, spread a very thin layer of butter onto a 18” – 19” (45 cm – 48 cm) piece of aluminum foil.

Place the foil, butter side down on top of the dough that’s already in the pan. This will keep hold the dough in it’s place while baking.

Bake this for 15-20 minutes or until dough is fully cooked. I learned this from Julia Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Remove the foil from the dough and let cool completely. Reduce the oven to 375°F/190°C/Gas Mark 5.

Beat eggs, cream, salt, and white pepper in a large bowl. Chop the bacon and chives, shred the cheese and add everything to the egg mixture.

Pour this mixture into the pan with the cooled pie shell. You may have to redistribute some of the ingredients if they are not even.

Place this on a sheet pan just in case anything drips out of the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until it’s starting to slightly brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

I like to garnish this bacon quiche with chive blossoms when in season, or other edible flowers such as marigolds or zinnias.