We’re always on the lookout for new breakfast dishes—we are a family of dedicated breakfast eaters.  Here is a quick and easy way to make a special egg dish, adapted from an old recipe my mother used to use.  We had this last weekend as part of a Sunday brunch—and served it with cinnamon toast and blueberries topped with vanilla yogurt and granola.  This is a good recipe to play with—the ham could be changed to bacon or any kind of sausage, and for a change of cheese—I’m going to try Gouda or Gruyère.

Ham and Egg Gratin

Serves 4

Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time:  25 minutes

Ingredients

2 teaspoons butter
2 ¾ ounces cooked ham, diced
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk, heated just to the boil
Salt and pepper
2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease 4 small ramekins with the butter.  Crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl.   Whisk them well.  Stir in the ham and then gradually add the hot milk, stirring the mixture constantly.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Pour the mixture into the ramekins and sprinkle each with equal parts of the cheese.  Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until set.  Let cool for 5 minutes and then serve.

Here is a wonderful little something that is delicious to eat as part of a Sunday brunch, or as a dessert anytime that you have nice sweet blueberries in your market.  The tartness of the blueberries combines well with the sweetness of the batter and topping in this easy, three-layer dish.  If you’re making it for breakfast, you can make the batter and the crumble topping in advance and keep them in the refrigerator overnight—and wash the berries and put it all together quickly in the morning.

Although delicious just as it is, at breakfast time, you could top this with a spoonful of vanilla yogurt or a splash of cream.  As a dessert, this pairs nicely with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Blueberry Buckle
Adapted from a recipe by Chefs Melissa Kelly and Price Kushner

Serves 8

Ingredients for the batter:

4 tablespoons butter, softened
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup buttermilk

To prepare the batter:

Beat the butter with the sugar until well combined.  Add the egg and continue to beat.  Stir the flour and the baking soda together.  Add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar and egg mixture and beat until well combined.  Add the buttermilk and beat just to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Ingredients for the filling:

4 cups blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

To prepare the filling:

Stir together the blueberries, lemon juice, flour and sugar—coating the blueberries well.

Ingredients for the crumble topping:

¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small pieces

To prepare the crumble topping:

Put all of the ingredients in a small bowl and work them together with fingers until it is well blended and “crumbly”.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

To put it all together:

Grease eight 6-ounce ramekins or one 9-inch glass or ceramic pie pan.  Add ¼ cup of batter to each ramekin, smoothing the mixture with a spoon or spatula.  Spoon ½ cup of the blueberry mixture over the batter.  Top the blueberries with ¼ cup crumble each.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the crumble topping is nicely browned and the blueberries are bubbling at the edges.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

One of our family traditions is a big Sunday breakfast.  All of us love to laze around on Sunday mornings and then eat late in the morning.  That’s our meal until dinner—and so we usually make it pretty substantial.

Most everyone I know has a version of this casserole in their repertoire, and because it is easy to make, and very satisfying, this makes an appearance at our Sunday breakfast table several times a year.  It’s a great basic recipe and can be embellished and changed with great result.  The bread can be plain white, sourdough, or leftover baguette…the sausage can be mild or spicy or a mixture…the cheese can be cheddar, white cheddar, or just about any kind you like…and vegetables can be layered in too…think tomato, onion, and peppers…whatever you add, it comes out wonderfully—this recipe is nearly impossible to mess up.

Serve it alone or like I did yesterday, with cinnamon toast and fresh pineapple alongside.

Breakfast Casserole

8 to 10 Servings

8 slices of bread cut into cubes
1 pound sausage, casings removed and cooked
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
6 eggs
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dry mustard
A dash or two of hot sauce (optional)

Butter a 9” x 13” rectangular or oval baking dish.  Place the bread cubes in an even layer on the bottom of the dish.  Evenly layer the cooked sausage and then the cheese over the bread.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk and then add the milk, salt, pepper, dry mustard and hot sauce (if using) and whisk until the mixture is well combined.  Pour the mixture evenly over the bread, sausage and cheese.  Cover the dish and refrigerate it overnight.

An hour before you’re ready to cook, remove the casserole from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook the casserole for one hour.  Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 or 10 minutes before serving.