Blueberry-Pumpkin Bread -
This is essentially an update to my Chocolate Chip-Pumpkin Bread.
http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2014/10/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-bread.html
1. Use 1 cup of blueberries rather than chocolate chips.
2. If using frozen blueberries, microwave blueberries for 20 seconds.
When pumpkins are in season, it may be more difficult to find fresh blueberries, and may need to use frozen blueberries.
I love blueberries. I love blueberry-banana bread. I'd thought I'd try it with the pumpkin bread and see how it turned out.
It was really good. It blended nicely. Abby really liked it. She prefers it over the regular pumpkin bread.
Enjoy!!
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Monday, October 5, 2015
Apple Scones
Apple Scones
Ingredients -
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup minced apples without skin
1 egg beaten
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter (for topping)
2 tablespoons sugar (for topping)
1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder
3. Cut in butter
4. Add the sugar and minced apples
5. Mix in the egg and milk to make a soft dough
6. Stir ingredients until well mixed
7. Grease an 8x8 baking pan
8. Spread batter in greased 8x12 pan (an 8x8 pan also works)
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes
10. When done, spread the 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons sugar over the top.
11. Cut into 2 inch squares.
12. Enjoy.
Mark's Notes -
The original recipe calls for an 8x12 pan. I used an 8x8 pan and it turned out well.
I ran out of butter and sugar for the topping. Other than that it was good. The trick to scones is to not overmix the batter.
I ran out of butter and sugar for the topping. Other than that it was good. The trick to scones is to not overmix the batter.
Mark's Story -
Miriam came home from school with her school newspaper - Kid's World News. It has kid friendly recipes in the "Cookin Fun" section. There was a recipe for Apple Scones that Miriam wanted me to make, and so I made them.
"Apple Scones." Kid's World News September 2015: 9. Print.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Grilled Mediterranean Tuna Steaks
Grilled Mediterranean Tuna Steaks
Ingredients:
4 tuna steaks (5-7 ounces)
1 medium tomato, chopped (3/4 cup to 1 cup)
2-4 tablespoons olives
2-4 tablespoons olives
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or oregano leaves (or 3 teaspoons dried basil or oregano)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions:
1. In medium bowl, toss tomato, feta cheese, olives, and only 1 tablespoon or the basil (or oregano).
2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve
3. In small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons basil (or oregano), the olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper.
4. Spray the grill with cooking spray and heat to medium-high.
5. Brush the oil mixture over the tuna
6. Grill tuna uncovered for 5-10 minutes (depending on thickness)
7. Turn the tuna on the grill.
8. Brush tuna with any remaining oil mixture.
9. Grill tuna 10-15 minutes (depending on thickness), or until tuna flakes easily with a fork. (Flake is a bite size portion of tuna that comes off easily from the steak).
10. Top each tuna with the tomato mixture.
11. Enjoy.
Mark's Notes:
This recipe is from the Betty Crocker iphone app.
The original recipe is for 4 tuna steaks. When I made this, I made 5 tuna steaks. That is why I needed a whole tomato. For the other ingredients, I just added a little more for each ingredient like approximately 1/8 more feta cheese, 1/8 more oregano, 1/8 more olive oil, 1/8 more garlic salt, and 1/8 more pepper.
I used dried oregano rather than basil.
I didn't know what a "flake" was in the recip until I actually cooked it and a "flake" did come off easily with a fork.
Mark's Story:
Back in May, for Mother's Day, I made a herb-salmon dinner for my mom. My dad gave me a newspaper clipping for a tuna recipe. I thanked him. I studied the recipe when I got home. I wasn't familiar with the ingredients on the list. So, I researched a simpler tuna steak recipe to make for my dad on Father's Day.
My parents were staying with my brothers so I went over there and made dinner. I used my George Foreman electric indoor/outdoor grill. That worked very well. It's very portable, can grill a lot, and very easy to use - no charcoal or propane to mess with.
It took me 15 minutes or so to prepare all the ingredients. It took another 25 minutes to grill the tuna. It turned out really well.
I've never cooked tuna steaks before. When I bought them, I was hoping that 25 minutes would be long enough to cook them through, and it was. I was joking with my brother that he should have the pizza delivery on speed dial in case something went terribly wrong. It turned out really really nice. The aromas that filled the kitchen added to the entire ambiance of this dinner.
My brother made a side of rice and vegetables to go with this.
For dessert, for Father's Day, I made a Black Forest Cherry Parfait - this can be found elsewhere on my blog.
I enjoyed cooking for everyone. I'm excited that it turned out so well. I'm excited that everyone liked it so much. Now, I need to make this dinner for Trish (she had taken the kids to go visit her dad for Father's Day).
And when I make it again, I'll get a picture and add it to this.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Mouse-tacular Chocolate Cookies
Mouse-tacular Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Nonpareil candies or similar chocolate drops
Mini bow shaped cake-decorating candies
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Measure the powdered sugar into a small bowl and set aside
4. Combine the softened butter and the 3/4 cup granulated sugar (not the powdered sugar).
5. Beat the butter and sugar in large mixing bowl until light and creamy
6. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract
7. Roll a spoonful of the batter into 1 1/4 ball.
8. Roll the bottom of the ball in the powdered sugar
9. Place on the baking sheet with powdered sugar side down.
10. Bake the cookies until they puff up and the tops crack (8-10 minutes).
11. Set the baking sheets atop cooling racks until cookies have cooled.
12. Heat the chocolate chips in a microwave bowl for one minute with the microwave set at 50 percent power.
13. Stir the chips and heat for another 15 seconds.
14. Stir again and repeat until the chocolate has melted.
15. For each ear, dip the chocolate candy in the melted chocolate and attach to the cookies. (If necessary, use a spoon to make an indentation in the cookie before placing ears. Otherwise, just push the chocolate candy into place).
16. Dip part of the bow-shaped candies and stick it in base of the ears on half the cookies for the Minnie Mouse cookies.
17. Enjoy.
Mark's Notes -
First night I tried to make this, I found our powdered cocoa - it was expired. Trish was out and about with Abby doing some other shopping, and she stopped on her way home to get the powdered cocoa. She gets home. I take the cocoa powder and continue with the recipe. Then I mixed in the powdered sugar with the butter rather than the powdered sugar in step 5. It was late at night, so, I gave up. Cleaned up the kitchen to start again the next day.
Miriam helped me mix everything together both nights. Trish was able to find some bows in the cake decorating aisle.
Mark's Story -
For Spring Break 2015, we went to Orlando. We went to SeaWorld, Universal, Islands of Adventure, Disney, and Downtown Disney. At Downtown Disney, Miriam found Disney's "The Minnie and Friends Cookbook", and she wanted me to get it so we could do some baking together. How could I say no. When we got home, she went through the book and picked out which recipes she wanted me to do first. She wanted to do this recipe first.
Littlefied, C. (2014). The Minnie and Friends Cookbook. New York: Disney Press.
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Nonpareil candies or similar chocolate drops
Mini bow shaped cake-decorating candies
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Measure the powdered sugar into a small bowl and set aside
4. Combine the softened butter and the 3/4 cup granulated sugar (not the powdered sugar).
5. Beat the butter and sugar in large mixing bowl until light and creamy
6. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract
7. Roll a spoonful of the batter into 1 1/4 ball.
8. Roll the bottom of the ball in the powdered sugar
9. Place on the baking sheet with powdered sugar side down.
10. Bake the cookies until they puff up and the tops crack (8-10 minutes).
11. Set the baking sheets atop cooling racks until cookies have cooled.
12. Heat the chocolate chips in a microwave bowl for one minute with the microwave set at 50 percent power.
13. Stir the chips and heat for another 15 seconds.
14. Stir again and repeat until the chocolate has melted.
15. For each ear, dip the chocolate candy in the melted chocolate and attach to the cookies. (If necessary, use a spoon to make an indentation in the cookie before placing ears. Otherwise, just push the chocolate candy into place).
16. Dip part of the bow-shaped candies and stick it in base of the ears on half the cookies for the Minnie Mouse cookies.
17. Enjoy.
Mark's Notes -
First night I tried to make this, I found our powdered cocoa - it was expired. Trish was out and about with Abby doing some other shopping, and she stopped on her way home to get the powdered cocoa. She gets home. I take the cocoa powder and continue with the recipe. Then I mixed in the powdered sugar with the butter rather than the powdered sugar in step 5. It was late at night, so, I gave up. Cleaned up the kitchen to start again the next day.
Miriam helped me mix everything together both nights. Trish was able to find some bows in the cake decorating aisle.
Mark's Story -
For Spring Break 2015, we went to Orlando. We went to SeaWorld, Universal, Islands of Adventure, Disney, and Downtown Disney. At Downtown Disney, Miriam found Disney's "The Minnie and Friends Cookbook", and she wanted me to get it so we could do some baking together. How could I say no. When we got home, she went through the book and picked out which recipes she wanted me to do first. She wanted to do this recipe first.
Littlefied, C. (2014). The Minnie and Friends Cookbook. New York: Disney Press.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Banana Cream Pie
Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients -
5 ripe bananas total - 2 bananas in part 1; and 3 bananas in part 4
4 tablespoons butter total - 1 tbl in part 1; and 3 tbl in part 3
2 1/2 cups half and half - part 1
1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons - part 2
6 large egg yolks - part 2
1/4 teaspoon salt - part 2
2 tablespoons cornstarch - part 2
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon in part 3 and 1/2 teaspoon in part 5
2 tablespoons orange juice - part 4
1 cup heavy cream chilled - part 5
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar - part 5
1 recipe fully baked and cooled pie crust - part 4
Suggestion - there is a 40 minute wait after Part 1 and 1 hour wait after Part 3. You could use these times to prepare the pie crust.
Part 1 - Banana and Half-Half Mixture
1. Peel 2 bananas
2. Cut bananas into 1/2 inch pieces
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat
4. Add sliced bananas to saucepan
5. Cook until softened - about 2 minutes
6. Add half-half
7. Bring to boil for 30 seconds
8. Remove from heat
9. Cover and let cool for 40 minutes
Part 2 - Egg Mixture with Banana-Half and Half Mixture
10. Whisk sugar, egg yolks, and salt in large bowl until smooth
11. Whisk in cornstarch
12. Strain cooled banana-half and half mixture from Part 1 through fine mesh strainer into yolk mixture - do not press down on bananas.
13. Whisk until incorporated
14. Discard remaining bananas
Part 3 - Pastry Cream
15. Transfer mixture to clean medium saucepan
16. Cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly until thickened to consistency of warm pudding - 180 degrees - 4 to 6 minutes
17. Remove from heat
18. With a clean whisk, whisk in remaining 3 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla
19. Transfer mixture to clean bowl
20. Lay sheet of plastic wrap directly on surface of mixture
21. Refrigerate pastry cream for 1 hour
Part 4 - Putting the Pie Together
22. Peel and slice 3 bananas into 1/4 inch thick pieces
23. Toss with orange juice
24. Whisk pastry cream briefly
25. Spread half of pastry cream over the cooled pre-baked pie crust
26. Arrange sliced bananas over pastry cream
27. Spread remaining pastry cream over bananas
Part 5 - Whipped Cream Topping
28. Using a mixer, whisk the heavy cream, confectioner's sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla on medium-low until foamy - about 1 minute
29. Increase speed to high and whip until stiff peeks form - about 1-3 minutes
30. Spread whipped cream evenly over top of pie
31. Refrigerate pie until filling is chilled and set - at least 5 hours or up to 1 day. (It sets up better if left overnight - still does well after 5 hours though)
32. Enjoy
Mark's Notes
In step 18, I suggested using a clean whisk. The previous whisk was used to mix uncooked eggs. In step 18, the eggs are cooked, and so I use a clean whisk here.
I was using Pillsbury pre-made pie crust. I baked the crust for ten minutes. When we were all enjoying the pie and testing it, the crust was still very doughy and detracted from the taste of the rest of the pie. I did not cook the pie crust long enough. When I try this again, I will try baking the pre-made pie crust longer.
Also, I waited until the pastry cream in Part 3 had almost finished cooling to begin working with the pie crust and baking it and cooling it. I should have started on the pie crust after Part 1 or as soon as I put the pastry cream in the refrigerator. If I do that, I will be less rushed, the pie crust will have plenty of time to cook and then cool.
Or I could take the time to make the pie crust from scratch before I start everything else.
Mark's Story -
This recipe for Banana Cream Pie is from America's Test Kitchen New Family Cookbook. Trish got me that for Christmas. I was looking through all the wonderful recipes in there and I came across this - I love Banana Cream Pie.
03/14/15 9:26:53 was a very special Pi day. Pi day is celebrated on March 14 as mathematical Pi 3.14 matches the date 03/14. In 2015, Pi day was extra special as it happens only every 100 years (twice in one day with am and pm). So, for Pi day, I made this Banana Cream Pie. It turned out fairly well. We are having our Pi day celebration at work on Monday, and I will be making another one of these now that I have worked on some of the mistakes I made.
So, this is what I did on this very famous Pi Day!! It was very good.
I made a second Banana Cream Pie for our Pi Day celebration at work and cooked the crust longer. It looks really good.
This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen The New Family Cookbook.
"Banana Cream Pie." The New Family Cookbook. Editors at America's Test Kitchen. Brookline, MA: America's Test Kitchen, 2014. 718.
Ingredients -
5 ripe bananas total - 2 bananas in part 1; and 3 bananas in part 4
4 tablespoons butter total - 1 tbl in part 1; and 3 tbl in part 3
2 1/2 cups half and half - part 1
1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons - part 2
6 large egg yolks - part 2
1/4 teaspoon salt - part 2
2 tablespoons cornstarch - part 2
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon in part 3 and 1/2 teaspoon in part 5
2 tablespoons orange juice - part 4
1 cup heavy cream chilled - part 5
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar - part 5
1 recipe fully baked and cooled pie crust - part 4
Suggestion - there is a 40 minute wait after Part 1 and 1 hour wait after Part 3. You could use these times to prepare the pie crust.
Part 1 - Banana and Half-Half Mixture
1. Peel 2 bananas
2. Cut bananas into 1/2 inch pieces
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat
4. Add sliced bananas to saucepan
5. Cook until softened - about 2 minutes
6. Add half-half
7. Bring to boil for 30 seconds
8. Remove from heat
9. Cover and let cool for 40 minutes
Part 2 - Egg Mixture with Banana-Half and Half Mixture
10. Whisk sugar, egg yolks, and salt in large bowl until smooth
11. Whisk in cornstarch
12. Strain cooled banana-half and half mixture from Part 1 through fine mesh strainer into yolk mixture - do not press down on bananas.
13. Whisk until incorporated
14. Discard remaining bananas
Part 3 - Pastry Cream
15. Transfer mixture to clean medium saucepan
16. Cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly until thickened to consistency of warm pudding - 180 degrees - 4 to 6 minutes
17. Remove from heat
18. With a clean whisk, whisk in remaining 3 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla
19. Transfer mixture to clean bowl
20. Lay sheet of plastic wrap directly on surface of mixture
21. Refrigerate pastry cream for 1 hour
Part 4 - Putting the Pie Together
22. Peel and slice 3 bananas into 1/4 inch thick pieces
23. Toss with orange juice
24. Whisk pastry cream briefly
25. Spread half of pastry cream over the cooled pre-baked pie crust
26. Arrange sliced bananas over pastry cream
27. Spread remaining pastry cream over bananas
Part 5 - Whipped Cream Topping
28. Using a mixer, whisk the heavy cream, confectioner's sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla on medium-low until foamy - about 1 minute
29. Increase speed to high and whip until stiff peeks form - about 1-3 minutes
30. Spread whipped cream evenly over top of pie
31. Refrigerate pie until filling is chilled and set - at least 5 hours or up to 1 day. (It sets up better if left overnight - still does well after 5 hours though)
32. Enjoy
Mark's Notes
In step 18, I suggested using a clean whisk. The previous whisk was used to mix uncooked eggs. In step 18, the eggs are cooked, and so I use a clean whisk here.
I was using Pillsbury pre-made pie crust. I baked the crust for ten minutes. When we were all enjoying the pie and testing it, the crust was still very doughy and detracted from the taste of the rest of the pie. I did not cook the pie crust long enough. When I try this again, I will try baking the pre-made pie crust longer.
Also, I waited until the pastry cream in Part 3 had almost finished cooling to begin working with the pie crust and baking it and cooling it. I should have started on the pie crust after Part 1 or as soon as I put the pastry cream in the refrigerator. If I do that, I will be less rushed, the pie crust will have plenty of time to cook and then cool.
Or I could take the time to make the pie crust from scratch before I start everything else.
Mark's Story -
This recipe for Banana Cream Pie is from America's Test Kitchen New Family Cookbook. Trish got me that for Christmas. I was looking through all the wonderful recipes in there and I came across this - I love Banana Cream Pie.
03/14/15 9:26:53 was a very special Pi day. Pi day is celebrated on March 14 as mathematical Pi 3.14 matches the date 03/14. In 2015, Pi day was extra special as it happens only every 100 years (twice in one day with am and pm). So, for Pi day, I made this Banana Cream Pie. It turned out fairly well. We are having our Pi day celebration at work on Monday, and I will be making another one of these now that I have worked on some of the mistakes I made.
So, this is what I did on this very famous Pi Day!! It was very good.
I made a second Banana Cream Pie for our Pi Day celebration at work and cooked the crust longer. It looks really good.
This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen The New Family Cookbook.
"Banana Cream Pie." The New Family Cookbook. Editors at America's Test Kitchen. Brookline, MA: America's Test Kitchen, 2014. 718.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Thanksgiving Day Baking
Thanksgiving Day Baking
This year for Thanksgiving, we spent it at Maumee Bay. Maumee Bay is a family friendly resort on Lake Erie. They have the main lodge which has a heated indoor pool, soft play area for kids, lots of places to sit and relax, lots of windows, fireplaces, and a restaurant. There is a campground there and cottages and a nature center and nature trails. We have spent many weekends there with my parents. This year, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving at Maumee Bay and we stayed in a cottage. My parents stayed in the main lodge.
I agreed to do all the baking for Thanksgiving Day.
So, Tuesday night of Thanksgiving week, after a long PTO meeting, at 8pm I started baking.
I made a chocolate chip pumpkin bread, regular pumpkin bread, a pumpkin pie, and got those started in the double oven. While those were baking, I cut up the apples for the apple pie. I prepared the apple pie, and a pecan pie. While the apple pie and pecan pie were baking, I made the Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole.
Wednesday, I got off work a little early to start packing everything. We got to Maumee Bay around 9pm. Unloaded everything into the cottage. The kids were so excited and started exploring right away. My parents watched the kids while Trish and I went to Meijer to get some groceries for the week.
Thanksgiving Day - I started with the Breakfast Casserole. My parents came over and joined us for breakfast. After breakfast, my parents had some errands to run and I started baking.
I made the sweet potatoes first. Then I made the mashed potatoes. The kids loved the mashed potatoes. Trish likes sweet potatoes. Then I made the Broccoli Cheese Casserole. Then I made some stuffing which I was missing half the ingredients for.
The mashed potatoes and the sweet potatoes were a Betty Crocker recipe that just involved mashing the potatoes and adding a little butter and salt. The Broccoli-Cheese Casserole from Cook's Illustrated was really good and I posted that in a separate blog entry. The recipe I used for the stuffing didn't turn out very well. I will need to try another stuffing recipe at some time.
We had pre-ordered some turkey from Honey Baked Ham. I had everything ready around 3pm. However, everyone had finished a light lunch, so I kept everything warm until around 4:30/5ish.
We had turkey. We had mashed potatoes. We had sweet potatoes. We had broccoli cheese casserole. We did have some stuffing even though that didn't turn out very well. Then later on we had some pie.
We had enough leftover turkey, sides, and desserts that lasted us for several more meals over the next several days.
Then, every morning, I made breakfast for everyone at the cottage including my parents. I made turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, and homemade pancakes.
It was a great Thanksgiving.
This year for Thanksgiving, we spent it at Maumee Bay. Maumee Bay is a family friendly resort on Lake Erie. They have the main lodge which has a heated indoor pool, soft play area for kids, lots of places to sit and relax, lots of windows, fireplaces, and a restaurant. There is a campground there and cottages and a nature center and nature trails. We have spent many weekends there with my parents. This year, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving at Maumee Bay and we stayed in a cottage. My parents stayed in the main lodge.
I agreed to do all the baking for Thanksgiving Day.
So, Tuesday night of Thanksgiving week, after a long PTO meeting, at 8pm I started baking.
I made a chocolate chip pumpkin bread, regular pumpkin bread, a pumpkin pie, and got those started in the double oven. While those were baking, I cut up the apples for the apple pie. I prepared the apple pie, and a pecan pie. While the apple pie and pecan pie were baking, I made the Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole.
Wednesday, I got off work a little early to start packing everything. We got to Maumee Bay around 9pm. Unloaded everything into the cottage. The kids were so excited and started exploring right away. My parents watched the kids while Trish and I went to Meijer to get some groceries for the week.
Thanksgiving Day - I started with the Breakfast Casserole. My parents came over and joined us for breakfast. After breakfast, my parents had some errands to run and I started baking.
I made the sweet potatoes first. Then I made the mashed potatoes. The kids loved the mashed potatoes. Trish likes sweet potatoes. Then I made the Broccoli Cheese Casserole. Then I made some stuffing which I was missing half the ingredients for.
The mashed potatoes and the sweet potatoes were a Betty Crocker recipe that just involved mashing the potatoes and adding a little butter and salt. The Broccoli-Cheese Casserole from Cook's Illustrated was really good and I posted that in a separate blog entry. The recipe I used for the stuffing didn't turn out very well. I will need to try another stuffing recipe at some time.
We had pre-ordered some turkey from Honey Baked Ham. I had everything ready around 3pm. However, everyone had finished a light lunch, so I kept everything warm until around 4:30/5ish.
We had turkey. We had mashed potatoes. We had sweet potatoes. We had broccoli cheese casserole. We did have some stuffing even though that didn't turn out very well. Then later on we had some pie.
We had enough leftover turkey, sides, and desserts that lasted us for several more meals over the next several days.
Then, every morning, I made breakfast for everyone at the cottage including my parents. I made turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, and homemade pancakes.
It was a great Thanksgiving.
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.
Widican, Kris. “Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole”
Cook's Illustrated All-Time Best Holiday Baking.
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