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Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion; sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until they give off their liquid and it evaporates to a glaze, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the thyme, allspice, salt, and pepper. Set the pan off the heat to cool for 10 minutes.

Lightly butter a 10-inch round or a 9-inch square baking dish. Mix both cheeses in a medium bowl.

Place half the bread in the baking dish, cutting the slices to cover the pan’s surface completely. Brush with 2 tablespoons wine. Top with half the mushroom mixture, then half the cheese mixture.

Lay the second layer of bread slices as before over all this, brush these slices with the remaining wine, then top them with the remaining mushroom mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the dish.

Whisk the eggs and milk or half-and-half in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour this mixture over the casserole. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.

Bake the casserole uncovered until puffed and brown, about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before serving.

Note: You can double this recipe; if you do, use an 11 × 17-inch baking dish.

Sausage and Cheese Fondue Casserole: Cook ½ pound crumbled sausage meat or sausage-style textured soy protein in the pan with the mushrooms.

Seafood and Cheese Fondue Casserole: Add 6 ounces small “salad” shrimp to the pan with the mushrooms during the last minute of cooking. Once you take the pan off the heat, stir in 4 ounces crabmeat, picked over for shell and cartilage.

Prosciutto and Cheese Fondue Casserole: Layer 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto in the casserole just before you add the second layer of bread slices. Omit the salt.

Spinach and Cheese Fondue Casserole: Thaw a 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach and then squeeze it dry of all excess water. Layer this spinach in the casserole before you add the second layer of bread slices.

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Know Your Egg Anatomy!

Shell. A calcium carbonate casing. The color, variable with chicken breeds, indicates nothing about nutritive value.

Albumen. The layers of translucent material that surround the yolk; the major sources of protein and riboflavin. In fresh eggs, a thick layer mounds up around the yolk.

Yolk. The yellow center, one of the few natural sources for Vitamin D, outside of sunlight. In a fresh egg, it’s high and perky. The color may change based on a chicken’s diet, but these variations do not necessarily indicate a nutritive change.

Chalazae. The edible, ropey strands that anchor the yolk in the shell. Since they dissolve over time, their absence reflects poorly on the egg’s freshness.

Blood Spot. A red mark on the yolk, caused by a rupture of blood vessels in the hen as the egg forms. It is not the embryonic beginnings of a chicken.

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Mushroom Cheddar Quiche on a Potato Crust

Instead of standard pastry, grated potatoes make a crunchy crust for this creamy quiche. Use only Russets: they have the right amount of starch for a stable crust. Makes 6 servings

2 large Russet potatoes, peeled

1 small onion

5 large eggs, at room temperature

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing the baking dish

12 ounces white button or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg

1½ cups milk (regular, low-fat, or fat-free)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces Cheddar, grated

Position the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate and set it aside.

Grate the potatoes through the medium holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Once they’re grated, pick them up by the handfuls and squeeze out any excess moisture over the sink.

Grate the onion into the potatoes, again using the small holes of the box grater. Stir in 1 egg and the salt. Press this mixture into the prepared pie plate.

Bake until lightly browned,