Breakfast: May 2003 Archives

A cooking marathon on Sunday, when I made the chicken enchilada casserole and this. The strata is supposed to chill for at least 8 hours or for a day, so I made it on Sunday for dinner last night.

First I sauteed half a diced onion in butter. I bought a bunch of baby spinach and just shredded it by cutting across it without even taking it out of the bundle. Rinsed it well, twice, then nuked it until it was soft and squeezed all the liquid out. Then I mixed it with the onions, plus salt, pepper and nutmeg. (The recipe actually called for frozen chopped, but I was shopping at the vegetable stand, not the grocery store, so I got fresh.) Then I put three of these layers in my casserole: stale bread cubes (about 4 cups total), spinach mixture, shredded parmesan cheese (about 3 tablespoons) and shredded Montery Jack (about 3/4 cup; the recipe called for Guyere, which I'm sure would have been better, but I used what I had--this is, after all, a recipe for leftovers). Chill for 8 hours or overnight.

Let it come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until set. While mine was baking, I could hear the neighbor in the hallway complaining that he could smell gas. Well, yes, the oven does use gas. It made me wonder if he has ever turned his oven on. He finally got the super, who came up and rang my bell to ask about the gas smell (although I had heard the super tell the neighbor that he didn't smell anything; I should have put an end to the whole conversation sooner). By the end it smelled like baking bread and melty cheese.

A cooking marathon on Sunday, when I made the chicken enchilada casserole and this. The strata is supposed to chill for at least 8 hours or for a day, so I made it on Sunday for dinner last night.

First I sauteed half a diced onion in butter. I bought a bunch of baby spinach and just shredded it by cutting across it without even taking it out of the bundle. Rinsed it well, twice, then nuked it until it was soft and squeezed all the liquid out. Then I mixed it with the onions, plus salt, pepper and nutmeg. (The recipe actually called for frozen chopped, but I was shopping at the vegetable stand, not the grocery store, so I got fresh.) Then I put three of these layers in my casserole: stale bread cubes (about 4 cups total), spinach mixture, shredded parmesan cheese (about 3 tablespoons) and shredded Montery Jack (about 3/4 cup; the recipe called for Guyere, which I'm sure would have been better, but I used what I had--this is, after all, a recipe for leftovers). Chill for 8 hours or overnight.

Let it come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until set. While mine was baking, I could hear the neighbor in the hallway complaining that he could smell gas. Well, yes, the oven does use gas. It made me wonder if he has ever turned his oven on. He finally got the super, who came up and rang my bell to ask about the gas smell (although I had heard the super tell the neighbor that he didn't smell anything; I should have put an end to the whole conversation sooner). By the end it smelled like baking bread and melty cheese.