We were anxiously awaiting this day (and a wardrobe) and wanted our closest family & friends to be there to witness this event as well. After a very touching service and outstanding behavior by this little man (who didn't cry at all, and looked in amazement at the congregation from the stage), everyone headed back to our home for a breakfast.
I knew we were going to be gone about 2 hours at church, and seeing as service was at 8am, realistically I knew that there was little chance of doing any prep work the morning of, what with feeding and dressings two people and all.
As with all my entertaining my famous motto prevails - make it easy on yourself. Everything that I served at breakfast was a make ahead, but the piece de resistance was the breakfast casserole.
When I think of stratas, I'm overcome with thoughts of heavy cheese, and bread drenched in fat, so it wasn't the first thing to come to my mind when conjuring up a spring breakfast menu. However, I worked my way into making it more delicate, simply by using a rich recipe for the egg mixture, and using fresh & simple ingredients like ham & corn.
I also used a really low oven (280F) for the time that we were gone, and this slow cooking method really worked well for a soft pudding soaked in luxurious egg custard with the flavor seeping in from the tasty ham.
The best part of the dish was that it was make ahead of course, and so all I had to do the morning of was to stick it in the oven.
The rest of the menu was just as tasty, and easy. We had two large fruit plates, which I had sliced and plated the day before, and an arugula salad with marinated-ahead mini mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes as a dressing. For the entrees, there were meatballs, frozen ahead, recipe here, and the casserole which was also assembled the day before.
The perfect spring breakfast dessert was an olive oil cake (I think I taught this at one of my classes) served with sweet lemon ricotta.
Needless to say, it was a huge success, but of course Jadon was the star of the moment, so who really cares what the food was like? ;)
Here's the recipe for the casserole (which is really no more than a savory bread pudding)
Tip 1: If you're assembling the casserole ahead, you do need to croutonize the bread. If you're doing it day of, you can just use stale bread
Tip 2: If you're in a hurry, you can cook it at 350F in under an hour, but please use a water bath!
Ham & Corn Breakfast Casserole
serves 6-8
3 cups croutons (recipe below)
4 ea eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup ham, diced
1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh
1/2 ea onion, diced
1 tbs olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent and lightly browned
Scald the milk and cream, and whisk into the beaten eggs
Season the egg mixture to taste
Combine the croutons, onions, ham and corn into a well oiled 8x8 casserole dish
Pour the egg custard over the bread mixture, being careful to allow the liquid to soak the bread
Let stand for about an hour, or cover and refrigerate over night
Bake at 300F for about 1.5 hrs, or until casserole is lightly puffed, and slightly spongy when pressed
Broil for 1 minute to brown the top if necessary
Croutons
3 cups Bread, diced
1 tbs Olive oil
Toss bread in olive oil. Bake in a single layer at 350F for about 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown
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