Kitchen Adventures: Brunch Edition

Yesterday, Bryan and I hosted brunch at our house for some friends we hadn't seen in a while. So this week, you get a brunch recipe instead of a dinner recipe! On the menu for brunch were blueberry muffins (from a mix), croissants (baked from pre-made dough), mixed fruit, orange juice, apple juice, and Cheesy Sausage Strata. My apologies that I didn't take a picture -- we were scrambling to get everything ready before our guests arrived.

This is another tasty creation from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

Cheesy Sausage Strata
8 oz. Italian or pork sausage
1/3 c. chopped onion
1/3 c. chopped sweet red pepper
1 clove minced garlic
5 c. French or Italian bread cubes
1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 eggs, beaten
2 c. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh cilantro or parsley

1. In a large skillet, cook sausage, onion, sweet pepper, and garlic until sausage is cooked and vegetables are tender. Drain off fat. Set aside.

2. Place bread cubes in 2-quart square baking dish. Spoon sausage mixture over bread cubes. Sprinkle with 1 c. Monterey Jack cheese.

3. In a medium bowl combine eggs, milk, salt and cilantro (or parsley). Pour egg mixture evenly over layers in baking dish. Using the back of a spoon, gently press down on layers (to get the bread to soak up the egg mixture). Let stand for 15 minutes. ***If you want to make this ahead of time, you can cover it with tin foil and put it in the fridge at this point. You can leave it in the fridge overnight (which is what we did), or for up to 24 hours before you bake it.***

4. Bake, uncovered, in a 325 F oven about 45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. (If you refrigerated it overnight, increase cooking time to about an hour.) Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

We used Jimmy Dean pork sausage. Very tasty, and there was no fat to drain off.

We used a loaf of French bread. I wasn't really clear about what "bread cubes" meant, so i just basically cut about a 1 1/2-inch thick slice of bread, then cut that into quarters and called it good. Five cups is about half of one of those long loaves of French bread. I couldn't find day-old bread, so we used fresh, and it turned out fine. I think if I make this again, I'll either toast the bread or get day-old bread so it soaks up the egg mixture better. Since the bread was so moist, it was a little too moist in the strata. The bread cubes pretty much fill up the baking dish, but don't be alarmed by that, that's how it's supposed to work.

I don't like cilantro, because I think the flavor is too overpowering, so we used fresh parsley. Honestly, I think dried parsley from your spice rack would be fine. It doesn't make that much of a difference, and I didn't really notice the flavor. In fact, you could probably leave the parsley or cilantro out all together if you wanted.

Overall, the strata went over very well. Several of the brunch attendees went back for seconds, so I count that a success. It's hearty enough that if you wanted to do brinner (breakfast for dinner), this would be a good main dish.