Food Porn: Comfort food, breakfast casserole style.
During my childhood, every holiday (though Easter in particular) my mother would make the same "Egg Scramble" casserole for breakfast. It basically consists of lots of scrambled eggs, a cheese sauce usually made of cheddar, *blech* canned mushrooms, *blarg* canned ham (not spam, at least), onions and bread crumbs. I always looked forward to it, even if I did pick out the mushrooms in earlier years and the ham in later years. All of it is mixed together, save the bread crumbs which are sprinkled on top, then baked until heated through and the bread crumbs are properly toasted giving it some variance of texture.
Another favorite breakfast-type casserole in recent years is hashbrown casserole. I like baka_san's recipe and also the version at The Loveless Cafe. As I was trying to think of something a little different to cook for breakfast last weekend, I thought, why not combine the two?
Starting with the hashbrown casserole, I took a package of the frozen cube-type hashbrown potatoes (though I'm sure shredded would work and probably would reduce the cooking time and of course fresh would work, but I'm lazy). I didn't have the cream of mushroom soup that it called for, so I just doubled the sour cream (using about 1.5 cups) and added a cup of water to help get the potatoes well cooked. I chopped up one medium onion and shredded an 8oz block of Cabot seriously sharp white cheddar and stirred it all together. I salted gently, peppered heavily and threw in some garlic powder because that's how I roll. At that point, I went ahead and stuck it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes to give it a head start. When the 30 minute timer went off, I put my biggest skillet on the stove on medium high and whisked together 12 eggs and about 1/4 cup of sour cream (because I was out of milk or rather it was being rationed for more important things, like coffee). I also reset the timer on the oven for 15 minutes. When that timer went off, I threw some butter in my skillet, then partially cooked my eggs, just enough to get them to mostly pull together, but still a bit runny. Once they were almost where they needed to be, I whipped the casserole out of the oven and topped it with the eggs. Then, I topped the eggs with panko bread crumbs and more salt (just a touch, since I didn't season the eggs), pepper and garlic powder. I baked this until the bread crumbs toasted a bit.
Now, the result was not a culinary masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. But it was good and exactly how I had planned for it to turn out. I didn't miss the mushroom soup at all and I don't think I'll add it any more. It wasn't too salty as a result (have you noticed the sodium content on a back of Campbell's? I have.) I might try next time to scale back the sour cream to 1 cup and add a cup of milk instead of the water and extra sour cream. The potatoes were a tad mushy on reheating. Other than that, I could see a several improvements to make it really over the top, as far as a single dish breakfast goes and even totally change the flavor profile:
So yes, while it's not garlic meatloaf with a maple chipotle glaze served over maple chipotle mashed potatoes (yes, really), it's good, it's comfort food and it's a way to incorporate a childhood favorite into what I enjoy cooking these days. I look at this try as kind of a blank canvas on which to apply any number of flavor experiments. It's as versatile as a quiche but with potatoes!
Another favorite breakfast-type casserole in recent years is hashbrown casserole. I like baka_san's recipe and also the version at The Loveless Cafe. As I was trying to think of something a little different to cook for breakfast last weekend, I thought, why not combine the two?
Starting with the hashbrown casserole, I took a package of the frozen cube-type hashbrown potatoes (though I'm sure shredded would work and probably would reduce the cooking time and of course fresh would work, but I'm lazy). I didn't have the cream of mushroom soup that it called for, so I just doubled the sour cream (using about 1.5 cups) and added a cup of water to help get the potatoes well cooked. I chopped up one medium onion and shredded an 8oz block of Cabot seriously sharp white cheddar and stirred it all together. I salted gently, peppered heavily and threw in some garlic powder because that's how I roll. At that point, I went ahead and stuck it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes to give it a head start. When the 30 minute timer went off, I put my biggest skillet on the stove on medium high and whisked together 12 eggs and about 1/4 cup of sour cream (because I was out of milk or rather it was being rationed for more important things, like coffee). I also reset the timer on the oven for 15 minutes. When that timer went off, I threw some butter in my skillet, then partially cooked my eggs, just enough to get them to mostly pull together, but still a bit runny. Once they were almost where they needed to be, I whipped the casserole out of the oven and topped it with the eggs. Then, I topped the eggs with panko bread crumbs and more salt (just a touch, since I didn't season the eggs), pepper and garlic powder. I baked this until the bread crumbs toasted a bit.
Now, the result was not a culinary masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. But it was good and exactly how I had planned for it to turn out. I didn't miss the mushroom soup at all and I don't think I'll add it any more. It wasn't too salty as a result (have you noticed the sodium content on a back of Campbell's? I have.) I might try next time to scale back the sour cream to 1 cup and add a cup of milk instead of the water and extra sour cream. The potatoes were a tad mushy on reheating. Other than that, I could see a several improvements to make it really over the top, as far as a single dish breakfast goes and even totally change the flavor profile:
- A layer of cooked sausage between the potatoes and eggs.
- A topping of biscuits (coupled with the above improvement could prove to be downright dastardly).
- As much as I try to refrain from making every single "special breakfast" Southwestern (because it always seems to go that way), some roasted green chilies or chipotles as well as some chili powder in the potatoes. Change the cheese to a pepper jack and the above suggested sausage to chorizo, then serve with corn tortillas and ranchero sauce (not that we didn't totally top it with hot sauce and/or ranchero sauce as it was, I mean, that's a given with eggs and/or potatoes).
- Add mushrooms back into the eggs, but go with something like a baby bello or at least some fresh buttons and saute them with some garlic in butter first. Skip the canned, by all means.
- Some paprika would also be a welcome addition to any rendition.
- Figure out a way to add bacon and make sure the bacon retains crispness. *scratches head* Would be especially good with the mushroom/garlic rendition.
- Also would be good with the mushrooms/garlic: spinach, asparagus and maybe some shrimp or other seafood.
- A creole version with crawfish. I'm thinking like the filling of the crawfish stuffed beignets at Brenda's French Soul Food in San Francisco. *drool*
- Roasted garlic and/or some fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme in the potatoes.
- Something like Ritz or some other buttery crackers crumbled on top instead of bread crumbs.
So yes, while it's not garlic meatloaf with a maple chipotle glaze served over maple chipotle mashed potatoes (yes, really), it's good, it's comfort food and it's a way to incorporate a childhood favorite into what I enjoy cooking these days. I look at this try as kind of a blank canvas on which to apply any number of flavor experiments. It's as versatile as a quiche but with potatoes!