Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

1 loaf Italian bread

1 pound breakfast sausage (I used turkey sausage)

1 small onion

12 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, about 3 cups

12 large eggs, slightly beaten

4 cups whole milk

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon hot sauce (optional)

Instructions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Cut bread into 1/2 inch thick pieces.

3.  Spread bread on two baking sheets and bake until golden - 15 to 20 minutes.  Flip the bread and rotate sheets halfway through.  Let cool for 15 minutes.

4.  Cook sausage and cut into smaller pieces.

5.  Add onion and cook until golden - about 5 minutes.

6.  Grease 13x9 baking dish.

7.  Pour half the bread in baking dish.

8.  Pour half the sausage-onion mix over the bread.

9.  Pour 1 cup cheddar over the bread-sausage mix.

10.  Pour in remaining bread.

11.  Pour in remaining sausage-onion mix.

12.  Pour in remaining 2 cups cheddar.

13.  Whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and hot sauce together in large bowl.

14.  Pour evenly over casserole.

15.  Wrap casserole with plastic wrap.

16.  Place a second casserole dish on top of the plastic wrap.  Weight second casserole dish (I used some milk and juice cartons).

17.  Refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 24 hours.

18.  When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees.

19.  Let casserole stand at room temperature while oven pre-heats.

20.  Remove weights, second casserole dish, and plastic wrap.

21.  Bake casserole until edges and center have puffed and top is golden brown - about 1 hour.

22.  Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

23.  Enjoy.

Mark's Notes - 

I made this casserole late Tuesday night the week of Thanksgiving.  I finished it at midnight.  I served at Maumee Bay for breakfast Thursday morning.  So, it was in the refrigerator for 32 hours - a little over the recommended 24 hours.  It was delicious.  It was a huge hit Thanksgiving morning.

For this, I didn't have any whole milk.  I had 2% milk and some half and half.  So, I looked up a conversion.  3/4 cup 2% milk and 1/4 cup half and half is a substitute for whole milk.  So, I did 3 cups 2% milk and 1 cup half and half.  

I got this recipe from Cook's Illustrated's Holiday Baking.  It is their Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole by Kris Widican.  

Widican, Kris. “Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole”
Cook's Illustrated All-Time Best Holiday Baking.

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:

Topping - 

2 slices white sandwich bread (torn into quarters

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Filling - 

2 pounds broccoli

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press about 1 teaspoon (somewhat optional)

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

pinch cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

8 ounces shredded Colby cheese (about 1 1/3 cup)

4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 1 1/3 cup)

Salt (optional)

Pepper (optional)

Instructions:

For Topping - 

1.  Process bread and butter in food processor until coarsely ground then set aside.

For Casserole - 

2.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

3.  Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in large pot.

4.  Add 1 tablespoon of salt to water (optional).

5.  Add broccoli to boiling water - cover and cook until broccoli is bright green 3-5 minutes.

6.  Drain the broccoli in a colander - set aside.

7.  In medium saucepan, melt butter.

8.  Stir in garlic, mustard, and cayenne with the melted butter.

9.  Cook butter mixture for about 30 seconds.

10.  Add the flour to the butter mixture - stir constantly for about 1 minute.

11.  The flour should turn golden after mixing for a minute.

12.  Slowly whisk in the broth and milk.

13.  Bring to a simmer and cook.

14.  Whisk often until large bubbles appear and is slightly thickened - about 5 minutes.

15.  Remove from heat.

16.  Whisk in the colby and cheddar.

17.  Season with salt and pepper (optional).

18.  Spread the broccoli in a 13x9 baking dish.

19.  Whisk cheese sauce again and pour over broccoli.

20.  Sprinkle with the bread-crumb topping.

21.  Bake until golden brown and bubbling around the edges - about 15 minutes.

22.  Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

23.  Enjoy.

Mark's Notes - 

The salt, pepper, and garlic in my opinion are completely optional. The cheese provides plenty of favor without the garlic, salt, and pepper.

I made this dish at Maumee Bay for Thanksgiving.  It was one of everyone's favorite sides.

For the  1 1/2 cup whole milk, I had 2% milk and some half and half.  I looked up a conversion.  It said for 1 cup whole milk to use 3/4 cup 2% milk and 1/4 cup half and half.  So, I made the conversion for 1 1/2 cups whole milk based on this conversion from cooking light website.

I got this recipe from Cook's Illustrated with my online subscription.

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

Ingredients:

Pineapple Topping Ingredients - 

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

9 slices pineapple from 14 oz. can

9 maraschino cherries (optional)

Cake Ingredients - 

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup shortening

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

Instructions for Pineapple topping:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Place butter in 9x9 baking dish.

3.  Melt butter in oven.

4.  Sprinkle brown sugar over butter.

5.  Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar/butter.

6.  Place cherry in middle of pineapple slices (optional).

Instructions for cake batter:

1.  In medium bowl, beat the remaining ingredient - flour, sugar, shortening, baking powder, salt, milk, and egg - for 30 seconds on low.

2.  Beat on high for 3 minutes.  Scrape bowl as necessary.

3.  Pour cake batter over the pineapple mix in baking dish.

4.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Mark's Notes - 

This is first time I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  Abby likes pineapples and so I have been trying to make various desserts with pineapples.  

This is a Betty Crocker recipe I found on my free Betty Crocker iphone app. 

It turned out well enough - Abby, Miriam, and Trish all liked it. Trish liked it although she thought it was a tad soggy and should have been a little more brown.  

Also, it appears that pineapple slices come in different sizes.  For a 9x9 baking dish, I should have used smaller pineapple slices.

If I were to do this again, I would prepare the cake batter first, then prepare the pineapple topping mix, then bake it.  I baked it for 50 minutes and it appeared to be done - next time I will try 55 minutes. Or I will find a new recipe and try again.  

Blueberry-Pineapple Buckle

Blueberry-Pineapple Buckle

Buckle Filling Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter - softened

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 8oz. can crushed pineapple (save juice for pineapple sauce)

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional)

Cinnamon Crumb Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup butter - softened

Pineapple Sauce Ingredients (optional):

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Juice reserved from can

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions for Filling and Topping - 

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In large bowl, mix together all filling ingredients except pineapple and blueberries.

3.  Fold in pineapple and blueberries.

4.  Spread in ungreased 8 inch square pan.

5.  In small bowl, mix together all cinnamon crumb toppings except butter.

6.  Cut in butter (use a pastry blender or 2 table knives and cut ingredients in opposite directions)

7.  Cinnamon Crumb Topping ingredients should resemble fine crumbs.

8.  Sprinkle over Blueberry-Pineapple mixture in 8x8 pan.

9.  Bake 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.  Inserted toothpick should come out clean.

Instructions for Pineapple Sauce (optional) - 

1.  In 1 quart sauce pan, mix together the brown sugar and cornstarch.

2.  Pour reserved pineapple juice into a measuring cup.

3.  Add enough water to pineapple juice to measure 2/3 liquid.

4.  Stir into brown sugar mixture.

5.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.

6.  Boil and stir for 1 minute.

7.  Remove from heat.

8.  Stir in lemon juice.

9.  Serve over warm dessert.

Mark's Notes - 

I made this with some leftover pineapples from a fruit tray.  I did not have any extra pineapple juice.  I completely skipped the pineapple juice part and everyone loved it. 

Mark's Story - 

Abby recently discovered that she like pineapples.  She asked me to find pineapple desserts.  I found this in the Betty Crocker app on my iphone.  Abby absolutely loved this dessert - even without the added pineapple sauce.

Next month I will probably be adding a Pineapple Upside Down Cake to my blog.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin (or 1 can pumpkin)

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup fat-free vanilla pudding (or 1/2 cup buttermilk)

4 large egg whites

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, canola oil, fat-free vanilla pudding, and egg whites and stir well with whisk.

3.  In medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.

4.  Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture stirring until just moist.

5.  Stir in chocolate chips.

6.  Spoon batter into 2 loaf pans coated with cooking spray.  

7.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes until wooden pick comes out clean.

8.  Cool 10 minutes.

9.  Remove loaves from loaf pans and place on wire rack to cool completely.

10.  Enjoy.

Mark's Notes - 

The recipe calls for 2 cups canned pumpkin.  I just used 1 15oz. canned pumpkin as 2 cups would be 16oz. and I wasn't going to open another can for the 1 extra ounce.

The recipe calls for 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I used 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips.  This turned out really well and the chocolate did not overpower the pumpkin flavor.  Feel free to try this recipe using 1 cup dark chocolate chips.

I don't always have 1/2 cup fat free vanilla pudding in my refrigerator.  I made this a second time and substituted 1/2 cup buttermilk for the 1/2 cup fat free vanilla pudding.  Either way, it's really good.

Mark's Story - 

I have made pumpkin bread before.  I have a different recipe posted on my blog for a really good pumpkin bread from Cook's Illustrated.  I never thought to add chocolate chips to pumpkin bread because I didn't think it would blend very well.  Trish found this recipe online and tagged me in Facebook.  I decided to try it.  Our kids love pumpkin.  They loved the chocolate chip pumpkin bread.  They also love regular pumpkin bread.  Like I said, the kids love pumpkin.  This was a really simple recipe to make.

This recipe is from Cooking Light December 2004.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-bread

Blueberry Peach Cobbler

Blueberry Peach Cobbler (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

Peach Mixture - 

5 pounds peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

Blueberry Topping - 

1 1/2 cups flour (6.75 ounces)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter - softened

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups blueberries

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Instructions:

Peach Mixture - 

1.  Place peaches in a large bowl.

2.  Drizzle peaches with lemon juice.

3.  Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons flour and toss.

4.  Spray 13x9 glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray.

5.  Arrange peach mixture in 13x9 baking dish.

Blueberry Topping:

1.  Combine 1 1/2 cup flour with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder.  

2.  Set flour mixture aside.

3.  In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup softened butter and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes.

4.  Add eggs - one at a time - beating well after each addition.

5.  Stir in vanilla.
6.  You now have the flour mixture and the sugar-butter-egg mixture.  For the next step, you will also need the buttermilk.  So, you will have the flour mixture, the buttermilk, and the sugar-butter-egg mixture.

7.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar-butter-egg mixture.  Begin and end with flour mixture.  Beat until just combined.

8.  Stir in blueberries.

Putting it all together:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Spread blueberry/flour topping over peach mixture.

3.  Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

4.  Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

5.  Enjoy!

Mark's Story - 

I found this recipe in Cooking Light's Cakes, Pies, & Cobblers magazine.  I read through it and found a lot of recipes that I would love to try.  This one in particular caught my attention as I love peaches and blueberries.  It turned out really well.  It was a bit messy to make as I used a lot of bowls to peel and pit the peaches.  Once the peaches are peeled, pitted, and sliced, the rest of the recipe does not take that long.  You will need at least three different bowls for this recipe - 1. peach mixture.  2. flour mixture  3.  sugar/blueberry/egg mixture.  Trish really liked it.  I thought it was really good.  Abby showed some interest in trying it at some later point.

References

“Blueberry Peach Cobbler,”  Cooking Light - Cakes, Pies & Cobblers, (2014): p. 24.

Blueberry Grunt - Cook's Country

Cook's Country Blueberry Grunt

Ingredients for the filling:

8 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Ingredients for topping:

Dry Ingredients for topping - 

2 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons sugar

Wet Ingredients for topping:

3/4 cup buttermilk

6 tablespoons butter - melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for last step:

10 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions for the filling:

1.  In a Dutch Oven, mix together 4 cups blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, water, and lemon zest.

2.  Cook on medium heat for 10-12 minutes or until mixture is thick and jamlike.

3.  In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon cornstarch.

4.  Stir cornstarch/lemon mixture in with the blueberries.

5.  Add remaining blueberries and cook for 1 more minute.

6.  Remove pot from heat and cover.

Instructions for the topping:

1.  In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. 

2.  In a measuring cup, combine buttermilk, butter, and vanilla

3.  Pour buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients.

4.  Slowly stir together until dough forms.

Instructions for putting it all together:

1.  Using either 2 spoons or an ice cream scoop, spoon golf ball sized dumplings on top of blueberry mixture.  There should be about 14 dumplings.

2.  Take a clean kitchen towel and cover the Dutch Oven and blueberry mixture.  Then put the lid on.  Make sure towel cannot catch fire - wrap ends of towel around top of lid if necessary.

3.  Simmer gently on low heat for 16-22 minutes.  Dumplings should double in size and a toothpick inserted in the dumplings should come out clean.

4.  Mix the 10 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

5.  Remove lid and sprinkle dumplings with sugar/cinnamon mix.

6.  Serve immediately.

7.  Enjoy!!

Mark's Notes:

I came across this in Cook's Country, and I had never heard of a Blueberry Grunt.  I like blueberries and this recipe looked like something I would enjoy.  I made it.  It turned out really really good.  

The only mistake that I made was for cooking the dumplings for 16-22 minutes, I cooked it on high heat rather than low heat. The original recipe instructions said to "gently simmer".  I had no idea what that means.  The blueberries at the bottom of the Dutch Oven got every so slightly burned.  I later watched the video of them making this recipe on the Cook's Country website and they said the last part should be done on low heat.  

Trish and I liked this recipe so much that I will definitely be making it again.

So, why is it called a Grunt?  There are several different explanations from the people at America's Test Kitchen - it is the sound people made while eating it, the sound they made when they were done eating - it was so good they grunted, or it is the sound the dumplings made while cooking.