Like a billion other people, I spend an occasional minute or two on Facebook. Everyday. Nothing obsessive or anything. Really. Lately people there have been posting a ton of recipes which reminded me that it's been a long time since I've posted here. So over the next few days I hope to get a few fresh ones up and maybe tweak a few of the older ones.
This recipe is for a Breakfast Casserole, but since this is a blog, I guess I should "blog" a bit first. So here's a little backstory.
Before August 29, 2005 and that thing called Katrina, I lived next to the same neighbors I'd live next to for years. You know the kind--let's call them "hello neighbors." You see them everyday, wave hello or goodbye, occasionally drop off a piece of mis-delivered mail, compare torpedo grass stories... but you don't exactly hang out. After Katrina, a group of us at the end of the street all found ourselves in the same boat--messed up houses, FEMA trailers in our front yards and common war stories of insurance settlements, rebuilding, and life in a tin can (that we were all very grateful to have).
If anything good came from that storm is was that we started talking about each others progress and setbacks and the talks progressed to small scale gatherings...and we formed a bond. Later, after everyone was rebuilt and in their homes again, we kept getting together. We still gather every year on August 29th for the 'anniversary' and at least 4 times a year we also do a breakfast gathering.
It was at that first breakfast that my neighbor, Judy, served up a breakfast casserole that was to die for. Eggs? Love eggs. Sausage? Down with that. Cheese? Never met a cheese I didn't like. I had to see if I could recreate it. She told me the general ingredients but I didn't write it down. I have a great memory, right? To use the colloquial: Uh, not no more.
So I experiemented with what i knew: eggs, cheese, sausage, bread....I think some green onion emerged from my brain fog. But how much? Now, if you look up breakfast casserole on the internet and you will find 903 recipes. So I scanned through a bunch and got a general idea of how much of what and I made a few of these over time. This is the what I settled on:
Recipe for Breakfast Casserole
6 beaten eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard (sounds weird but it works with the cheese)
1/2 cup of green onions (optional)
4 to 6 slices of bread (your choice: wheat, white, sour dough, whatever you wish)
1 pound of Jimmy Dean (or other brand) roll type breakfast sausage
1 cup of cheese of your choice. (I like a blend of cheddar and asiago.)
If you're going to serve this for breakfast. Do this the night before:
Crumble and brown sausage and drain well.
Grease an 11x13 casserole dish.
Line the bottom of the dish with slices of bread, or, you can use biscuit dough or crescent roll dough. If using crescent roll dough, unroll dough and place in bottom of dish, pressing on the perforations to seal them. I've also substituted seasoned stuffing mix--like pepperidge farm, not StoveTop. Just layer it on the bottom of the casserole dish. If your slices of bread don't fit perfectly, it's no big deal. Tear the slices if you need to. The goal is to get as close to a solid layer as possible. If parts of the dish show through, it doesn't matter. The egg mixture will fill it all in.
Spread the cooked sausage evenly over the bread/dough.
In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients except for the cheese. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.**
**If you want to put the cheese in the mixture, you certainly may. I've done it that way, too. It just integrates the cheese more into the dish. If you'd rather a cheese topping, don't mix it in. You could also mix in half the cheese and save the other half for the top. Cooking is about experimenting and having fun. You really cannot mess this dish up.
The next morning, remove the casserole from the fridge about 15 minutes before placing in a preheated 350 degree oven. REMEMBER, you don't want to put an ice cold dish into the oven. It may crack. ...so YES, I suppose it is POSSIBLE to mess this dish up that way.
If you saved the cheese or used half the cheese in the mixture, then bake for 20 minutes. Remove and sprinkle cheese over the top. Return to oven for an additional 20 minutes.
If you used all the cheese in the mixture, just bake it straight through for 40 to 45 minutes.
It should look something like this when it's done:
Serve immediately. Makes 8 generous servings.
6 beaten eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard (sounds weird but it works with the cheese)
1/2 cup of green onions (optional)
4 to 6 slices of bread (your choice: wheat, white, sour dough, whatever you wish)
1 pound of Jimmy Dean (or other brand) roll type breakfast sausage
1 cup of cheese of your choice. (I like a blend of cheddar and asiago.)
If you're going to serve this for breakfast. Do this the night before:
Crumble and brown sausage and drain well.
Grease an 11x13 casserole dish.
Line the bottom of the dish with slices of bread, or, you can use biscuit dough or crescent roll dough. If using crescent roll dough, unroll dough and place in bottom of dish, pressing on the perforations to seal them. I've also substituted seasoned stuffing mix--like pepperidge farm, not StoveTop. Just layer it on the bottom of the casserole dish. If your slices of bread don't fit perfectly, it's no big deal. Tear the slices if you need to. The goal is to get as close to a solid layer as possible. If parts of the dish show through, it doesn't matter. The egg mixture will fill it all in.
Spread the cooked sausage evenly over the bread/dough.
In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients except for the cheese. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.**
**If you want to put the cheese in the mixture, you certainly may. I've done it that way, too. It just integrates the cheese more into the dish. If you'd rather a cheese topping, don't mix it in. You could also mix in half the cheese and save the other half for the top. Cooking is about experimenting and having fun. You really cannot mess this dish up.
The next morning, remove the casserole from the fridge about 15 minutes before placing in a preheated 350 degree oven. REMEMBER, you don't want to put an ice cold dish into the oven. It may crack. ...so YES, I suppose it is POSSIBLE to mess this dish up that way.
If you saved the cheese or used half the cheese in the mixture, then bake for 20 minutes. Remove and sprinkle cheese over the top. Return to oven for an additional 20 minutes.
If you used all the cheese in the mixture, just bake it straight through for 40 to 45 minutes.
It should look something like this when it's done:
Serve immediately. Makes 8 generous servings.
