Roasted Red Pepper Crab Quiche - No Frittata

I made a tour around the grounds yesterday and other than a few small tree limbs and some washing from the 4 1/2" rain, we seem to have made it through Wednesdays storms okay. I feel bad for those that sustained damage and especially those who lost loved ones - the planet seems to be waking up.

We made a potato crusted dish some time back and every time I mention it Bev comments that it was too bland. I’ve seen several lately on the blogs I read and began thinking about how to overcome Bev’s objection. When Katherine over at Smoky Mountain Café posted hers a while back and commented that crabmeat could be used, an ideal was born.

I remembered the crab meat I still had in the freezer from our seafood shop-a-thon, the recent crab cakes we’ve made, and the burrito I made from leftover stuffed crab, and a quiche was born. I began with a half recipe of Cathy’s Fire Roasted Pepper Crab Cakes over at Wives With Knives.

This is the crust I had planned and will make sometime, but Bev did not want the extra carbs, so we compromised on a frittata.

For the crust: (If I had made it)
3 cups frozen hash browns, thawed and drained
½ stick melted butter
½ tsp Old Bay
1/8 tsp each salt and pepper

For the filling: (I made it like this)
- 2/3 pound crabmeat
- 2 green onions, small dice
- ½ tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- ¾ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning, divided
- ¼ cup jarred roasted peppers, diced
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¾ cup half and half
- 4 chopped asparagus spears – just because I had them
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- Several dashes of Tabasco Habanero Sauce - Bev added more to hers
- Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a 10” porcelin skillet with a little butter and olive oil, I sautéed the veggies, crab, herbs, and half of the Old Bay until the asparagus was a little tender.

Then I added the cheese and allowed it to begin to soften.

In a bowl I whisked together the remaining ingredients and poured them over the items in the pan and stirred around for a couple of minutes to get things evenly distributed.

I reduced the heat to low and cooked until the bottom was set, then put it under the broiler to finish.  Here's the finished product after the addition of just a little grated parmesan.

It was roll your eyes back delicious and Bev whipped up a salad using our garden salad greens, radishes, spinach, and green onion plus some other stuff and topped it with homemade 1000 Island and it was just about as good. 

Real men definitely eat quiche (or fritatta), even for supper - here's my plate.

Bev loved it and I'm so happy to be moving beyond being just a recipe follower - the next time I'll make individual ones and put a potato crust in mine.  Also, it was almost too moist so I'll reduce the milk to 1/2 cup.  Tune in a few days for the rest of the pound of crab.

I know I'm in the minority, but I'm sure glad this wedding is over.  I don't know whether the media wore me out more with it or the Charlie Sheen debacle :-).

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Taters and Eggs

Larry