This, Folks, is our favorite breakfast hands down. We make it at Christmas and maybe one other time a year. It's a simple casserole with simple ingredients, but the prep is a little tedious and you use a lot of pots so I save it for special occasions like Christmas.
It's a crowd pleaser. It's a man-pleaser if your man is cowboy, country boy, Southern boy, momma's boy, hearty boy, or just plain hungry boy. If your man is neither of the aforementioned, then you and I feed different kinds of men and so you may try googling a recipe for eggs benedict or something finer than boiled eggs and bacon with cheese.
I'll post the ingredients at the bottom of the recipe so don't fret and let me just walk you through the process.
You'll need a dozen boiled eggs sliced.
You'll need a package of bacon, fried and coursely chopped.
You'll need to dice 2 large russet potatoes and boil for 15 minutes or until the chunks are tender. Drain.
For the cheese sauce, you'll start by making a roux, which is nothing more than a thickening agent usually consisting of flour and a fat. In this case we're mixing the butter and flour. In a large pot, mix together the flour and butter and cook for a minute or so on medium heat while stirring the mixture to keep it smooth. A whisk makes it easier for me.
Add the milk and half and half to the mixture and use the whisk to work out the lumps over the heat. Stir this together until the liquid is thicker and starts to bubble. Add pepper if desired and mix it in.
Add in the 4 cups of shredded cheese. I don't use seasoning other than the pepper because the sharp cheddar is flavorful enough, but you can doctor this up however you'd like.
Mix quickly until the cheese is melted and well-incorporated and remove it from the heat.
Now, it's easy. Grease a 9x13 pan and layer half of the egg slices and half of the bacon on the bottom.
Next pour 1/2 of the cheese sauce on top. The cheese sauce will be really thick and goopy. It's not easy to spread so you may try letting it ribbon out of the pot. It's okay if it's not evenly spread.
Spread all of the potatoes on top.
Next, layer the rest of the egg slices and bacon.
And top with the rest of the cheese sauce.
Now for the bread topping. Cut 3 slices of bread into cubes like so...
In another saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp of butter. Once melted, mix in the bread cubes and spread the cubes on top of the casserole.
The final step is to bake it. If you're going to serve it the following day for breakfast then cover and chill overnight. That morning, let it stand at room temp for 30 minutes before baking at 350 for 30 minutes.
We love eating this with our favorite Guerrero flour tortillas that you cook yourself. They are like eating my mother's homemade tortillas. They're rolled, but not yet cooked. You just throw them into a hot skillet to cook them and you will love how fresh and homemade they taste.
Here's what I like to do when I make this breakfast:
Day 1: In the morning, I boil, peel and slice the eggs. I cook the bacon and prepare the potatoes
In the evening, I make the cheese sauce and layer it up. I cover it and refrigerate it for the next morning.
Day 2: I bake it and we eat!
I've found it's too much work to do it all in one day.
Ingredients:
1 dozen large, boiled eggs, sliced
1 package of bacon, cooked and coarsely chopped
2 russet potatoes, cubed and boiled
1/4 cup of margarine
1/4 cup of flour
1 cup milk
1 cup half and half
4 cups of Sharp Cheddar
Pepper to taste
Croutons:
3 slices of bread, cubed
2 Tbsp melted margarine or butter
