Easy Delicious Breakfast...

I have been making Cheese Strata ever since I watched Martha Stewart demonstrating the recipe on her show. It is an inexpensive, easy and quick recipe that requires common ingredients and the result is a beautiful and equally delicious dish. If you love eggs and cheese give this recipe a try because I promise you IT IS DELICIOUS!

Cheese Strata

This recipe adapted from "Martha Stewart Living" (May 2005).

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more, softened, for baking dish
8 slices Pain de Siegle or sourdough bread
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
4 large eggs
2 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
DIRECTIONS

Butter an 8-inch square baking dish; line bottom with 4 slices bread. Sprinkle with half of each cheese. Top with chives. Layer with remaining bread and cheese.
Whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture into baking dish. Cover; refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake strata until puffed and golden, one hour, to one hour and 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
First published December 2005

This recipe has a few ingredients, Swiss cheese is one of them. I am not normally a fan of Swiss cheese, but it is quite delicious in this recipe. I have fed this to a few people who absolutely do not like Swiss cheese, but they loved it.


First start off by lining a buttered casserole dish with four slices of sourdough bread.


Sprinkle bottom layer of bread with 1/2 of each of cheese. Top with four more slices of bread and the remainder of the cheese.


Eggs, milk, melted butter and a few spices are mixed together to make a flavorful custard.


The savory custard is then poured over the bread. The recipe calls for fresh chives, my chives are frozen under snow so instead I used one scallion, using both white and green parts.


The entire strata is then covered and placed into the refrigerator overnight. Here is what mine looked like after the bread slices absorbed the egg mixture.


The next morning preheat the oven to 325˚F and bake for 1 hour to, to one hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown.


This recipe takes about 10 minutes of prep time and the rest is baking. I made this strata the night before work and baked it while I was getting ready. I shared it with my coworkers and they loved it. If you have not tasted strata give it a try. I hope this recipe will become one of your favorites.