Breakfast Soufflé

Climb into the time machine with me and travel back into my newlywed daze days. Suzanne introduced me to many things in life. A different view on food was one that truly influenced me. She made brunch. BRUNCH! We spent a lot of time with Suzanne and Tom. Some great moments we shared, were brunching on a Sunday morning in their East Boston home. Kids, dogs and wonderful memories.  So I stole borrowed her recipe. It’s really an egg strata, but back then there were no FOODIES to correct us. As my children grew and got busy, Sunday morning brunch was one of the few weekly meals we could all share. I tried to do it up big, with Belgian waffles topped with strawberries, whipped cream and bacon on the side, pancakes (yawn) and this egg dish. I like it because you make it the night before and just bake it in the morning. The kids liked it because, well, it’s delicious. It doesn’t hurt when I serve it with poppy seed muffins and bacon. My favorite part was sitting around the table after the food was devoured, talking and laughing with the kids. Those are precious moments. Don’t tell them! You’ll blow my cover.

1 ½ lbs.  frozen bulk sausage (one tube, in the freezer section)

9 eggs, slightly beaten

3 cups of milk

1 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

3 slices of white bread cut into ¼” cubes

2 cups of grated cheddar cheese (I use the packaged kind)

First, brown the sausage in a pan. I let it sit in the fridge overnight so it will defrost. I break it into pieces, not too small, not too big and let it brown. Drain on paper towels. You can do this step ahead of time and store it in the fridge. This is the most time-consuming part of the recipe.

I don’t grease my pan. I use a ceramic casserole dish that cleans very easily. You can use a greased 9 x 13 x 2 pan. Mine is a little smaller and it allows the egg dish to really puff up while it’s cooking. It’s pretty, but it does fall as it cools.

In the baking pan, mix (do not beat) eggs, milk, salt, pepper, bread and cheese. Stir in the cooked sausage. Cover pan with plastic wrap and place in fridge over night.

Bake uncovered for one hour at 350 degrees. Before you put it in the oven, take a fork and just stir it all around once.

Serve with bagels, muffins or cinnamon rolls and bacon of course. Maybe sausage too! Serves 6 hungry Brosseaus.