Bacon Weave Brunch

I promise someone must have turned up the speed of the earth's rotation!  My life is a whirlwind of activity these days. Yours too? Yesterday I made a little time to play around with some new breakfast casseroles. I had seen an idea for a bacon crusted quiche in a really old low carb book. Can't remember which one, sorry. Being a lover of crispy bacon, (that seems nicer than saying that limp bacon grosses me out) I thought that might be interesting, but I wondered how to keep the bacon from getting too soft.

Obviously, pre-baking is necessary. I used my less than amazing weaving skills to cover the base of a quiche dish. OK, so I messed up the weave, but hey, who would know except all of you looking at my photos? I baked that for 20 minutes at 400. Great-- except that the weave shrunk much more than I had anticipated. What was I thinking? Of course it would shrink. I may have to go search for that original recipe again and see if that recipe addressed that issue.  So rather than have a crust which didn't actually cover the base, I opted to make the bacon weave the top crust. If that is good enough for cherry pie, it is good enough for this. That inspiration worked and I didn't have to worry about soggy bacon. Don't fret, if you weave it, the bacon will lift out easily in one piece.

This made a really tasty brunch dish. It is prettier than most breakfast casseroles, so it would be great for a buffet dish during the holidays. Add a few green bell peppers to make it even more festive.

Bacon Weave Brunch

12 slices bacon
8 oz cream cheese
6 eggs
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the bacon in a quiche dish or 8" x 8" square dish. Weave the bacon. Bake for 10 minutes, then drain off the collected fat. Return to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven, drain most of the fat and cool. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Warm the cream cheese if it is not at room temperature. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and eggs. Drain the liquid from the tomatoes, and add to the egg mixture. Stir in the salt, liquid smoke, pepper and onion powder.  Carefully remove the bacon weave from the dish and set it aside. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove it from the oven. Place the bacon weave on top and sprinkle the shredded cheese around the edges. Return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

This past week I did a little promotion for our cookbook series, Low Carbing Among Friends. I was interviewed by Dr. Robert Su of Carbohydrates can kill. The podcast will be available this Wednesday, so head on over to listen. http://www.carbohydratescankill.com .   Dr. Su is a very nice man and a true scientist. I am never good at explaining all the biochemistry of our eating plan, but I do know it works. As I told the doctor, I am glad his is there to inform people on diet and health, while I am busy in the kitchen making recipes that keep us on plan!