Instructions: Some families focus their culinary energies on Easter dinner, and some on a lovely breakfast or brunch.

A savory, egg-rich quiche can star at any meal. Early in the day, it partners with fruit and coffee cake. Later on, its delicious with salad vinaigrette or marinated vegetables, a hunk of baguette and a cool, fruity white wine.

We take quiche for granted today, but it wasnt that long ago that it was considered exotic food. One day in the bakery at St. Michaels Alley restaurant in Palo Alto, my baking guru and mentor Barbara Hiken declared she was going to make some quiches to put on the lunch menu. I had never attempted to make one on my own, so I was all eyes and ears.

Out came Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, and she proceeded to make not one but three of the recipe variations. As she cooked bacon and chopped mushrooms, she punctuated the process with exclamations like Oh, how luscious, Where are the 8 inch removable bottom pans? and The Roquefort one will be the best!

Ah, that smelly blue cheese on the salad station.

I decided, without voicing my opinion, that the classical quiche Lorraine and the mushroom with Swiss cheese would be my choices.

As Barbaras piping hot rounds came out of the oven, I inspected the deliberately rough and natural-looking puffed brown tops and uneven crusts. They werent more than 1 1/2 inches deep. The first bites were glorious. The Roquefort tart was amazingly delicate and sumptuous, thanks to the combination of blue cheese and cream cheese. It became an instant favorite for special guests. I promptly marked the recipes in my copy of Mastering, where they are still prominent reminders of Barbaras quiches.

When I traveled to France a few years later, quiche was a standard in the zinc bars where I ate late lunches. And they were served for supper alongside a brothy goose liver soup at one of the homes I stayed in. By the time I returned to the States, quiche had found its way out of tiny bistros and onto mainstream restaurant menus geared toward vegetarian diners.

The original quiche was an egg and cream mixture cooked in a bread dough-lined pan, the dough rolled as thin as the crispier butter-rich short pastry crust is today. There has been a long-running dispute among French culinary historians as to just who invented the lovely rustic tart. In Lorraine, it is studded with some smoked bacon, a regional specialty. In neighboring Alsace, a flan aux oignons shows quiche with German influences, made with a bread dough crust and slow-cooked onions (it can also be called a kuchen).

Yes, quiche is rich, but it is not an everyday food. The savory custard can be made with milk instead of cream, but the results are far less harmonious and the custard a bit more rubbery. Its best to use milk and cream in combination, or with creme fraiche or sour cream.

Making my own quiches at home, I experimented with all sorts of fillings. My favorites were a layering of parcooked zucchini and a bit of basil; crab and chives; and lots of spinach and freshly grated nutmeg. When I was short on time, I used a frozen pie crust or store-bought puff pastry; both are excellent alternatives to your own pastry crust. I made my quiches thin, balancing the tender filling and flaky crust, and I made them thick, with the emphasis on the golden, creamy filling.

A classic quiche dish is a 9 1/2 inch shallow round. Made of white earthenware with straight sides, it is designed to work best with bread-dough crusts. I prefer the French loose-bottomed, round tart pans with fluted sides and shiny tinned finish. They come in both 9- and 11 inch diameters and with 1- and 2 inch high sides (you can buy rectangular and square ones, too). The crust browns beautifully and to serve, you just slip your hand underneath and push up; the outside ring falls down your forearm (be careful if it is hot). Then you can easily slide the quiche onto a serving plate. A 9- or 10 inch pie pan is an acceptable alternative. There are 4 inch fluted tin tartlet pans, usually used for fruit tarts, that make nice individual-sized quiche.

Quiche is too good to save for holidays. Hot, it makes an appetizing Sunday night supper. Cool, its a welcome carry-along to a potluck or picnic. Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator.

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