Foodie Friday--Strata or Breakfast Casserole

This recipe is called Strata—no, I have no idea where the name came from—or breakfast casserole, or simply baked eggy-bready-cheesy-goodness-made-from-refrigerator-leftovers.

Whatever it’s called, it’s yummy.

The beauty of this breakfast casserole is that you can make it any way you want. If you want to go a little Italian, then brown Italian sausage (mild or spicy) and add a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Or make it using diced ham or bacon, instead of sausage. Add browned onions, or grape tomatoes, diced poblano or jalapeno peppers, or sauté spinach, drain and chop it. If you want more smoky spice then add chipotle powder. Or if you want a herbier type of casserole, add dried sage. Use whatever you happen to have on hand, it doesn’t matter. All you need is the basic eggs, milk, bread and cheese, leave the rest to your imagination.

This recipe calls for white bread slices, but I don’t like white bread, so I used a ½ loaf of French Country bread (weighed—about 8-10 ounces), or use Italian bread, or French bread, it doesn’t really matter. The staler the better since the eggy mixture is absorbed into the bread, like soaking French Toast.

The cheese can be whatever cheese you like. If you don’t have any idea what to use, use a sharp cheddar as the flavor will be a little stronger. And no, the cheese quantity is optional. Personally, I use far more cheese in my strata recipe than recommended . . . like two or three times the amount. This recipe is the perfect way of getting rid of those little chunks of random cheese left over from other recipes. I used a white cheddar cheese and a Mexican cheese blend, but I plan to use my leftover Gruyere and Fontina cheese the next time I make this recipe, which will be Christmas day . . . er, actually, I’ll make it Christmas Eve, but it will soak overnight before I bake it on Christmas day.  

Enjoy!

 

Strata or Breakfast Casserole

8 eggs

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

½ tsp. white pepper

2 cups milk

1 lb. bulk sausage, browned and degreased

6 slices of bread, cubed, about 8 cups

2 cup cheese, grated 

Fry sausage, breaking apart until cooked. Drain fat, blot excess fat with paper towels. Set aside. Cube bread. Set aside.

In large bowl, whisk eggs, salt, mustard, and pepper. Whisk in milk. Fold in grated cheese and bread.

Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake Strata for 35 minutes until browned and set.

Serve immediately.

 

Tips & Tricks

·         Use LARGE eggs

·         I don’t drink regular milk; 2% milk works fine. I added a little cream to the milk to give it a slightly higher fat content.

·         Use spray oil for the pan. It’s easier

·         When I baked this for my work gang, I put the casserole in a cold oven and turned it on to 350 degrees while I showered and dressed. I wasn’t about to putter around while waiting for the oven to preheat.  I added 15-20 minutes to the stated baking time and kept an eye on it toward the end.

·         The dry mustard and white pepper give the casserole a little zing. Put your own spin on the basic recipe. Add whatever seasonings you feel like.  

 

Foodie Friday -- Hard Boiled Egg

You're probably thinking that any idiot can hard boil an egg, and you'd be right. But most people over cook their eggs, cooking them until they get that greyish coat around the yolk and the white is rubbery.

If you look up how to boil an egg, the internet will say to place the egg in water and when it boils, cook it for 12 minutes. Personally, I don't want to sit around waiting for my stupid eggs to boil before I set a timer. Do you?

The reason I'm writing about this topic is because my 12-year old interrupted my walk the other day to ask me over the phone how to boil an egg. She likes to eat warm hard boiled eggs for breakfast. If a 12-year old can make perfect hard boiled eggs, so can you.

I will tell you the trick, which works very nicely for 1-3 eggs. I've never tried it with a larger amount of eggs like a dozen, but I would assume a wider stock pot would work the same. I also don't live in the mountains, so I don't know how the elevation aspect would effect this trick.

I've had one egg, out of all the dozens that I've cooked this way, crack and ooze during the process. I'm assuming it had a weak shell prior to being cooked.

I have never had a problem peeling any eggs, as the shells always peel easily from the whites. The yolk is always cooked and a beautiful yellow, no matter if the eggs are white or brown, newly laid or store bought.

As always, try it my way and if you need to adjust your times for a softer yolk or a longer time due to elevation, then change it, but use this as a starting point.

1) place egg(s) in saucepan.--make sure there is enough water around each egg to circulate. You don't want them jam packed in the pan.
2) add enough water to slightly cover the top of the egg--Use regular tap water, not hot, not cold. too much water and it will take too long to bring to a boil for this method
3) place pan on stove. Turn heat on high.--on my gas stove that would be '9'. Just don't put it on so high that the flames go around the pan instead of under it!
4) set timer for 20 minutes and walk away
5) turn off stove--ALWAYS turn off the stove before removing any pan. I could tell you the story of how the hubs set his shirt on fire. No one was hurt, but it was scary, okay, scary funny because I was at work when he called after all the hoopla was over with and he was fine.
6) Turn on cool tap water over cooked eggs as you pour boiling water down the drain--do this for about 20-30 seconds
7) fill the pan with cold water and then add a couple handfuls of ice. Let sit for about 30-60 seconds--trust me on this
8) when the egg is cool to the touch, gently whack all sides of the egg on the sink to crack the entire shell--did I really have to tell you this step? This will aid in removing the shell.
9) find the 'dimple' (air pocket usually in the fat end of the egg) and start peeling under lightly running water--the water helps rinse the egg and makes shell removal easier
10) ENJOY!

If you eat the egg at step 10, then the yolk will still be hot and steamy. This is point to refrigerate it in a ziploc-type bag if you plan to save it for later.

Try this method the next time you want a hard boiled egg. Let me know if it works for you.

If you want a softer yolk, subtract a minute or two and see how it turns out. I've never cooked soft boiled eggs, so I have no idea how many minutes you have to shorten the cooking time.

FOODIE FRIDAY -- Cheesy Eggs and Ebelskivers

Last Sunday morning, I came up with the best plan EVER!!  After church--we go early to an 8:30 mass--I told the family that I would start cooking brunch if they changed the sheets on the beds and started cleaning the house . . . and they BOUGHT IT!!

Yes, my friends, I cooked. But then again, I thoroughly enjoy cooking, but hate housecleaning. So while they slaved away upstairs, I diced an apple and made a filling for the ebelskiver batter, cooked some bacon and made cheesy eggs while the ebelskivers cooked.

Win-win . . . for me, even with cleaning up the dishes.

What was that?

You don’t know what ebelskivers are?

-- I will preface this discussion by saying that I have virtually every kitchen utensil known to mankind . . . and duplicates of many of them, but I had never heard of ebelskivers before. Until I needed to use a Williams-Sonoma gift card and couldn’t find anything that I had to have, thus the ebelskiver.

ebelskiver pan

An ebelskiver pan has seven rounded indents. You heat the pan and add the batter, add a little filling, when it puffs up, it’s flipped and the other side is cooked. Basically, it’s like a small--filled or unfilled--round donut or pancake.

This week’s bonus is THREE recipes for the price of one: Cheesy Eggs, Apple filling and Ebelskivers.

Oh, yeah, you don’t pay for these freebies, do you?

Enjoy!

Apple Filling

1 Granny Smith apple

water
Sugar
Cinnamon
Corn starch

Peel, seed and dice apple into small pieces, about ¼ to 1/3-inch square. Toss into a pot and add enough water to cover apples. Add about ¼ cup sugar and about ½ tsp cinnamon. Simmer apples until soft, about 10-15 minutes, adjust sugar and cinnamon to taste. IF there is too much liquid in the apples, then make a slurry (cornstarch ¼ tsp. and small amount of water) of cornstarch and add to apples. Stir and cook until thick. Turn off heat.

NOTE:  Filling needs to be almost dry to be used in ebelskivers.

Basic Ebelskiver batter

1 cup flour

1 ½ tsp. sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup whole milk ( I only have 2% milk, so I used ¾ cup 2% milk and ¼ cup heavy cream)
2 Tbls. butter, melted and slightly cooled

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon until just blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on high speed until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Using a silicone spatula, fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain.  Use the batter immediately.

ebelskiver flippers

Heat ebelskiver pan over medium heat and add about ¼ tsp butter to each well. When butter is bubbly pour 1 Tbls into each well. Add 1 tsp of filling to the center of each pancake, top with another 1 Tbls of batter. Cook each pancake until bottom is crispy and brown, about 3-5 minutes. Using 2 skewers, or ebelskiver turners, flip the pancake and cook an additional 3 minutes. Transfer to plate and continue cooking rest of the batter.

A couple of years ago, I started making cheesy eggs after we went to Disney World and my daughter ate the eggs at the character breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. They were called Minnie’s Eggs and this is my interpretation. This recipe serves three.

Cheesy Eggs

4 large eggs

¼ cup heavy cream (@ 1-2 Tbls per egg)
Salt ¼-1/2 tsp
Pepper (not too much--if you have a kid who won’t eat eggs with pepper, add about ¼ tsp. WHITE pepper. J They won’t be able to see it.)
Shredded cheese (Colby/Monterey Jack or Kraft Mexican blend)

Beat eggs, cream, salt and pepper in small bowl. Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat and add a dab of butter. When butter is melted, add eggs. Using a rubber spatula, push the eggs from the bottom of the pan, allowing the liquid to flow onto the pan’s surface. When eggs are almost finished (soft, but not liquid) add about ¼ -to- ½ cup shredded cheese. Stir into eggs until melted. Serve.

Bacon

I usually cut my bacon slices in half, for easier cooking. I started and finished cooking the bacon while I made my batter. I cooked it until crispy and then drained it on a paper towel and placed it in the oven on warm. You can also put the plates in the oven at the same time. A warm plate will keep your food warmer longer.  

I never said it was a healthy brunch, but at least we didn't eat anything until dinner. You'll have to wait until next week to see what the hubby made for dinner. I'll give you a hint: Macaroni and cheese. Considering how many calories there are in each serving (around 900!), you know this isn't no stinkin' Kraft Mac-n-Cheese!