Something New: California Strata

I've recently been stressing over what to do with the blog in a few weeks when the old recipes run out. Because of my job at the restaurant, I'm home less in the evenings which cuts into prime cooking time. Yesterday was the first time in a couple of weeks that I was able to cook something new. Chase and I have been living on some old favorites recently, and while I love our old favorites, it makes me miss the fun of trying new foods.

So to buy myself at least one more week of revisionary thinking, I skipped this week's Something Old post on Monday. Apologies if it gave anyone a sad.

Today's recipe is actually something my mom cooked for breakfast Christmas morning, and I took pictures of her cooking it while I was home. This turned out to be a very fortunate decision, considering I was otherwise without a new recipe for this week. (Surely it had nothing to do with the fact that I take far too many pictures of everything all the time.) The recipe came from my mom's Women of Great Taste cookbook which was produced in my hometown. Hooray local flavor!

Anyway, it was a very tasty meal, although I'd probably make it for dinner instead of breakfast. I'm not a protein-in-the-morning person (yes, that's a type of person), but this is an easy breakfast meal since you make it the night before and throw it in the oven the next morning. Plus the flavors are just fantastic.

Happy cooking!

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California Strata

NOTE: This recipe requires time to chill the casserole overnight.

Ingredients

1 lb mild Italian ground sausage

1 cup thick sliced mushrooms

1 cup diced yellow onion

¼ cup butter

12 slices white or wheat bread, crusts removed

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

5 eggs

2

½ cups milk

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp dry mustard powder

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

⅛ tsp pepper

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Sauté mushrooms and onions in the skillet until tender (5-8 minutes).

2. Season with salt and pepper to taste and remove from the pan.

3. Increase skillet heat to medium-high and cook the sausage through. Drain excess grease.

4. Place 6 slices of the bread in the bottom of a buttered 13x9 casserole dish.

5. Layer half of the mushroom mixture, sausage and then cheese over the bread.

6. Repeat this layering.

7. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk, mustards, nutmeg, salt and pepper together. Pour carefully over the casserole.

8. Cover the casserole dish and chill in the refrigerator overnight (or for at least 6-8 hours if you're preparing in the morning for an evening meal).

9. An hour before you're ready to eat, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

10. Sprinkle parsley over top of the casserole and bake uncovered for about 1 hour, until bubbly.

11. Serve and enjoy.

Beautifully browned mushrooms.

All eight delicious layers waiting for the egg bath.

Mom gives the layers the egg bath they've been waiting for.

Cooked until golden and bubbly (after a night in the fridge, of course).

Happy cooking!