Strata, gee

Just got back from a big family gathering to celebrate daughter Jessie's wedding in the hills of western Virginia. We rented a house which Dave and I shared with many extended family members.

We didn't have to worry about preparing dinners on this trip, as we were invited to various supper events so we could get to know the new in-laws and many of Jessie and Jake's friends. But breakfast in our hideaway rental was a cozy and somewhat competitive undertaking for the Knadler clan. I made my scones one morning, a definite crowd pleaser. Dave's brother Ed made French toast another day, also a hit. The day before the wedding, I began musing aloud about the efficiencies of baking a hearty cheese strata to appeal to a houseful of folks who tended to get up at different hours throughout the morning.

So the next day, Dave's nephew Mike, a self-professed "near chef," took it upon himself to create a cheese/egg/bacon/peppers and bread crumb casserole that wowed everyone. Later he admitted he'd never heard of "strata" and didn't really know what he was doing as he put this together. He expressed frustration that he didn't have more herbs to work with-- it's always a challenge to cook in a kitchen away from home. But his creation was delicious. As near as I could tell, here's his recipe:

Breakfast strata for a crowd

18 eggs
1 cup milk
One pound bacon
1 and 1/2 cups grated Monterrey Jack
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red or orange pepper, chopped
A loaf of unsliced bread (he used whole wheat), or enough to cover bottom of a casserole dish, broken into bite-sized chunks.
Fresh parsley, chopped
A sprig of fresh basil

Cook half the bacon until crispy. Break into pieces. Cut remaining bacon into 1-inch chunks. Beat eggs with milk. Add uncooked bacon, half the cheese, onions and peppers to egg mixture. Butter a 15-by-10-by-2-inch casserole dish. Arrange bread chunks in casserole. Top with egg mixture. Top with cooked bacon and remaining cheese. Sprinkle with parsley. Nephew Mike topped the casserole with sliced orange pepper, a few paper-thin orange slices and fresh-cut basil leaves. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, until knife inserted comes out clean.

Everyone loved it.

And then we headed off to Jessie's wedding.