On this dreary Tuesday morning, I'm here to talk about food, and that is never a bad thing. Sass and I decided that we were going to exchange recipes each week, and this week it was my turn to be the chef. Well, more like, Chef Boyardee with my skills. Julia Child I am not.
Sass linked me to this site: http://smittenkitchen.com/
Honestly, I'm glad she did because not only did I get excited about the recipe she wanted me to try my hands at, but the site in itself is super cute and looks to have some really tasty recipes. I perused on my own for a bit, and I may have discovered a few things I'm going to have to try.
For this Tasty Tuesday, we are talking about breakfast and brunch. I love breakfast foods. I admit it. Give me your pancakes and english muffins. Yes, I would like a waffle and some turkey bacon. Oh, your scrambling eggs? Sure, scramble me up one. So, um, yeah, you get what I'm saying. I'm a breakfast gal, so I was pretty excited when Sass linked me here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/12/spinach-and-cheese-strata/ to this recipe:
Spinach and Cheese Strata
Serves 6 to 8
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed, squeeze of all excess liquid, and chopped
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion (1 large)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 cups cubed French or Italian bread in 1-inch cubes (1/2 lb)
6 ounces coarsely grated Gruyère (2 cups)
2 ounces finely grated parmesan (1 cup)
2 3/4 cups milk
9 large eggs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Sauté onion in butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and nutmeg and continue cooking for one minute. Stir in spinach, remove from heat and set aside.
Spread one third of the bread cubes in a well-buttered 3-quart gratin dish or other ceramic baking dish. Top with one-third of bread cubes,one-third of spinach mixture and one-third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice with remaining bread, spinach and cheese.
Whisk eggs, milk, mustard and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together in a large bowl and pour evenly over strata. Cover with plastic wrap and chill strata for eat least 8 hours or up to a day.
The next day, let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 350°F. Bake strata, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
So, with this recipe in my hand, I decided a Labor Day brunch was in order. The ingredients are easy enough to come by with the exception of Gruyere cheese. I finally found it at one of the Gucci Brookshires, as we call it, in the Fancy Cheese area. I then discovered that it was $13 for a triangle of cheese!! Needless to say, I immediately put that cheese back and wandered over to the Kraft. I had googled Gruyere before to figure out what it tasted like, and I took a stab that Swiss was my best bet. After the fact, Sass told me that she also uses Swiss, so I felt a little victorious over the expensive cheese. I also added some crumbles of a colby jack and hoped for the best.
This past weekend was a busy one for me. I co-hosted a 1970's skating retro engagement party on Sunday, so I was a little worried about the fact that I had to make the Strata the night before. I'm nothing if not a procrastinator, so I was nervous I would run out of time. Sunday at about 2, I started to prepare. It was easy to do. My only issue was I had an out of control onion. That mother was strong! My sister and friend were commenting on the smell and their watering eyes from the chopping to the sauteing. I wasn't that affected until I put my contacts in. Next time, I'll wash my hands three or four times before doing that again.
Monday morning, I took out of the fridge and then popped it in about an hour before my friends were supposed to show up. It was smelling delicious and looking all golden brown, so I took out after about forty-five minutes. I feel like a dunce because I didn't snap a pic before this was eaten, but let's just say it looked pretty similar to the picture on the site. ;) Then, we dug in. The typical response was, "This is really good." I also got a, "This is really, really good," so it was definitely a hit. People also went back for seconds, so that is definite proof that this a tasty breakfast meal. My only issue is that I might not have baked it long enough because the bread was still a little gooey in the middle. No one seemed to mind, but the corner pieces were definitely the first to go. All in all, this was delish, and both Sass and I highly recommend it.
Try it out and let us know how it goes for you!
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