Cheese Strata
This is an extremely good egg dish. It needs to be prepared the
night before, which makes it great for the holidays. My mother used to make this for
brunch on Christmas, a dish that the entire family loved, plus it takes almost no effort
the day you cook it (all the grunt work is done the day before). It takes a bit of
effort, but it's well worth it.
Ingredients:
- Around 2 loafs bread, with the crust cut off.
- 3/4 pound shaved ham.
- 7 oz. Shredded Cheese
- 1 Cup Mushroom
- 3 cups milk
- 6 eggs
- Salt
- Butter
- 9x13 pan
- 350 degree oven for 1hr 10min
I general use a combination of sharp and mild cheddar cheese. In
this batch, I used three different kinds of ham: Virginia Smoked, Brown Sugar Baked, and
Honey Cured. I also substituted 1/2 cup of the 3 cups of milk for 1/2 cup of cream
(makes the dish a bit richer).
Slice the crust off of a loaf of standard sliced white bread.
Butter the pan.
Place the bread in the bottom of the pan, in even rows.
Place a layer of ham on the bread
Cover ham with a layer of cheese. Add another thin layer of ham over
the cheese. (Picture taken of cheese with the second layer of ham half over it)
Place mushrooms on the second layer of ham. Cover with a bit more cheese.
Cover with another layer of ham is desired.
Add the final layer of bread. Make sure this layer is fairly neat,
as it's what the diners will see!
Mix egg and milk. Add salt.
Carefully cover the top layer of bread with the mixture, making sure that all the bread gets wet.
Don't worry if it looks really moist - if you followed the recipe, it will turn out
fine.
Tightly cover the entire thing with tin foil. Place in the
refrigerator over night (8-12 hours min)
The next morning, place in oven, pre-heated to 350 degrees, covered
loosely with the tin foil. Cook for 1 hr and 10 min. For the final 20 min,
uncover the dish. The final dish should be not be too wet, and should be nicely
browned.
This is about the moisture level you should expect.
Plate it up, and Enjoy!
