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In 1980 we took a 6-weeks driving tour of Great Britain that was truly the trip of a lifetime.  Planned our route for months.  We rented a car just outside London, where our epic journey began.  Drove all the way to Edinburgh by way of Berwick-on-Tweed, back down through the Lake District, over into Wales, Down the west coast to Tintagel in Cornwall, stopping over at Clovelly, a dip down to Lynton-Lynmouth and finally back to London by way of a B & B just down the road from Paul McCartney’s famous Windmill home.  The car dealership was honestly gob-smacked when we returned the car.  The agent took note of the odometer with over 6,000 miles on it,  that had read nearly zero when he handed the car over to us.  His comment was “You’ve had quite an extensive  vacation!  🙂

My husband, a retired World History teacher, just had to see Hadrian’s Wall, once we were Corbridge, so we picked a lovely little country cottage there from our AA Farmhouse Guide whose description was idyllic.  It was like a hidden secret country manor that turned out to be the most memorable Bed & Breakfast we stayed during our vacation throughout Britain.  The owner was a very elderly, stout, soft-spoken, silver-haired gentleman, dear Mr. Matthews.  The approach to the establishment was through a circular drive in a lovely garden.  Once inside the cottage the scene was more a mansion.  We looked up to see the massive staircases at each end of the huge entry room that met on the floor above.  We looked at each other and our eyes said “Picked a good one.”

The very formal dining room had a massive picture window that looked onto a huge garden lined in pink honeysuckle!  Mr. Matthews, assisted by a lovely daughter, served dinner that night himself, as he was clearly most proud of his B & B.  It was a non-fancy meal, but typical, hearty country fare: ham, greens, potatoes and baked beans.  The British, you see, ate a lot of canned beans throughout WWII (beans on toast, my father said, was a favorite when he was stationed there in 1943).  To this day, beans are still a staple in their diet and are served in many ways we “colonials” would never dream of.

At breakfast the next morning, our omelet, again served by Mr. Matthews (his daughter was serving most of the British guests.   He clearly wanted to serv “the Yanks” visiting his establishment.   He was beaming when he said “You don’t get an omelet like THAT just anywhere, you know.  We smiled to show how much we created the creation.   It appeared to have everything in it leftover from last night’s dinner.   The omelet was cooked to perfection and it turned out to be one of the best omelets I have ever eaten.

Well, I ramble on in a sea of nostalgia, so I’ll get back to the matter at hand, the recipe and prep.  I’m such a lousy omelet cook I invariably tear them up rolling the sides over, so I prefer to bake them like a quiche to avoid that issue.    This recipe is not suitable until you reach the legumes level of the Atkins carb reintroduction ladder well into the OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss Phase).  It is not suitable for Primal-Paleo unless you omit the beans, but that’s really what makes this recipe so special.  But a bacon-onion quiche, although a horse of another color, will still be tasty. 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

5 slices lean “streaky bacon” as Mr. Matthews would call it (regular bacon in the States)

2 oz. chopped yellow onion

½ c. well-rinsed pork ‘n beans (from a can)

3 extra large eggs, beaten (more if you want a thicker, heftier, more eggy quiche)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Coarsely chop the bacon into 3/4″ dice.  In a medium skillet ( I prefer non-stick for omelets), brown the bacon but stop BEFORE it is very crisp.  Chop the onion and add to the pan.  Sauté until the two are browned and tender.  Drain off any excess grease.  Sprinkle the beans evenly on top.   Drizzle the beaten eggs evenly over the mixture.  Pop into 350º oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or just until the center is set to the touch.  Cut into 4 portions and serve.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 4 servings, each contains 136 calories, 6.9 g fat, 4.70 g carbs, 0.95 g fiber, 3.75 g NET CARBS, 9.77 g protein, 2261 mg sodium