This Cheddar Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Casserole has it all. Eggs, bread, sharp cheddar cheese and pork sausage. Did I mention yet this is quite a hearty dish? Guaranteed to satisfy the most ravenous members of your family. In other words, it should keep everyone out of the kitchen except when they come in to steal a few more bites. This is a blessing, especially if you also have to make the Christmas dinner.
If you can't find a bulk breakfast pork sausage in the meat section of your grocery store, try looking for it (in a one pound package) in the refrigerated section near the bacon. In a large frying pan, crumble the sausage, cooking until lightly browned and no pink remains. If the pork sausage exudes a great deal of fat, drain on a paper towel (and if it does, remember not to buy that pork sausage the next time).
This recipe calls for the use of whole milk (don't even think about substituting 1%, 2% or skim) for a reason. The fat content in the whole milk not only helps to bind the ingredients, but it also acts as a tenderizer, creating a much richer mouthful of deliciousness. The use of a lower fat milk could contribute to a breakfast casserole becoming tough. So remember, more is sometimes better.
Now to the cheese. Use a sharp cheddar. A two year old cheddar if you can find one. Even better a white, two year old cheddar. Growing up in the midwest, I thought cheddars were always yellow. While living on the east coast, most of the cheddars were white. And almost all of the cheddars made in Vermont are white. If you can find the two year aged Cheddar made by Grafton Village Cheese Company, buy it. You will not be sorry. This breakfast casserole calls for 1 1/2 cups of cheese. A four ounce piece of cheese yields one cup of grated cheese. You have probably already figured out that for this casserole you will need a six ounce piece of cheese.
The original recipe called for 8 slices of white bread cubed. However, I would more than strongly recommend you use 8 slices of frozen thick sliced Texas Toast with garlic instead. I must admit, the idea of changing out the white bread bread with the Texas Toast isn't mine. It was the recommendation, a rather great recommendation, of a friend's husband (thank you Dan!). In a buttered casserole dish, the cubes of frozen Texas Toast are layered first, followed by the sausage and then the cheese. The milk/egg mixture is poured evenly over the entire casserole. It may look like there is not enough liquid, but not to worry, there is.
Allowing the Cheddar Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Casserole to sit overnight in the refrigerator results in a custard-like, bread pudding like texture to the casserole. Assembling it the night before not only makes for a more 'relaxing' start to your morning, but it makes for an even more scrumptious dish.
The Cheddar Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Casserole is baked in a preheated 350 degree (F) oven for 45-50 minutes or until it is puffy, lightly browned and the center is set. The aroma created by this casserole is incredible. If anyone wasn't hungry when they wake up in the morning, they will be. Heck you might even wake them up! Note: This casserole easily feeds 8 to 10 people. But if you don't have that many people in your house, it reheats well in the microwave later in the day or even the next day.
Cheddar Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Casserole (inspired by a 1990 Bon Appetit recipe)
Ingredients
8 slices of frozen thick cut Texas Toast with garlic, cut into cubes
1 pound (mild to medium) bulk pork country sausage, crumbled, cooked and cooled
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) grated sharp cheddar cheese, grated (recommend Grafton Village 2 year aged cheddar or other high quality 2 year old sharp cheddar)
10 large eggs
2 cups whole milk (do not use low or non-fat)
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
1. Butter a 9"x13" rectangular or oval casserole dish. Set aside.
2. Mix together milk, eggs, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Layer bread cubes in bottom of pan.
4. Top bread with sausage and cheese.
5. Pour egg/milk mixture over bread/sausage/cheese. Cover and refrigerate.
6. Take casserole out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Bake casserole until lightly browned, puffed and center is set (approximately 45-50 minutes). Serve immediately.
"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted" (a quote by Aesop). On my recent trip to New Orleans, I spend some time in Lucullus, an incredible culinary antique store. It is one of those shops where the size of the store is deceiving in the sense that you will find yourself spending as much time browsing in it as you might in a store ten or twenty times its's size. Each time you walk around the store your eye sees something different, making you wonder how you could have missed so many right in plain view things. I wasn't going there to browse, I was going for the singular purpose of coming home with a treasure. Although the choices seemed endless, my recent obsession with pewter at least gave me a focus. But having a focus doesn't always mean the choices aren't endless. After looking at some pewter spoons and platters I ultimately decided on a platter with great markings. As I was leaving the store, I wondered if I should have gotten at least one spoon. In retrospect, I think I may have been wondering out loud.
The package containing the pewter platter arrived this past week. Upon taking the platter out of the box, I noticed there was something else wrapped and taped to it. It was a spoon. While my thoughts and feelings can often be somewhat transparent, I don't expect others, particularly strangers, to pick up let alone to act on them. Being the recipient of an unexpected kindness not only brings a sense of pure joy, but unspoken responsibility to pass it on, to pay it forward. I only hope that in the days, weeks or months ahead I can bring just some of that same sense of heartfelt joy I felt to a friend, to a stranger. As I look at that pewter spoon I will forever be reminded to never underestimate the power of a kind word, a kind deed. Especially the unexpected ones.
