Filed under: I got this recipe from a little bed and breakfast on the east coast, and did some tweaking to make it my own. Every Christmas morning, I make this for the family, and everybody raves about it. And when I’m up late entertaining out-of-town guests, I prepare this the night before, toss it into the oven when I wake up, and look like a rock star (except domesticated) when they wake up craving breakfast.
Try it out and let me know what you think:
You’ll need:
- 2 pounds bulk sausage
- 1 loaf artisan bread, sliced
- butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
- 8 eggs
- 1 quart half-and-half
- 2 teaspoons salt
First, in an iron skillet, brown the sausage and then drain it using paper towels.
Take about six slices of bread and layer them onto a buttered 9×13 baking pan, buttered side down.
Add a layer of the browned sausage, and then top with a layer of both cheeses, mixed together.
Place another layer of bread on top of the cheese, this time buttered side up.
Combine milk, eggs and salt. Add other spices to taste. Mustard seed gives this recipe a nice kick.
Add your wet ingredients to the dry ones in the baking pan. Cover the pan and refrigerate it overnight. Letting it get sufficient rest is important, so don’t just go ahead and pop it in the oven – gas or electric kitchen ranges are are fine (no need to be picky).
When you’re ready to heat it up, bake at 350°F for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and rest for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Serve with OJ and – if you don’t have enough starch – some home fries for a truly epic breakfast.