Earl Cooks 3 Meats, Eggs & Potatoes Breakfast

My first experience with a breakfast casserole was at my father's home after he remarried. My step-mom prepared what she called a 'strata', something I was unfamiliar with in the 70s and wasn't popular with "Turkey" because the eggs never seemed quite cooked. Of course, I now know what a 'strata' is but I am going to call it a casserole, just the same.
I had never prepared one before, but I felt like 'breakfast for dinner' last night and thought this might be the ticket. It might well be called 'kitchen sink breakfast casserole' because it includes several items that come straight from the fridge with little or no preparation. That makes it perfect for a weeknight meal, or when you have some ingredients you want to use up. Here's how it went...
Ingredients

• hash browns (mine were from baked potatoes)
• cheddar cheese-shredded
• 3 breakfast meats
• bacon-cooked to your liking
• smoked sausage (I used applewood-smoked) 
• ham (black forest deli style is what I used)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 medium-sized yellow onion
• Cajun seasoning
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• Japanese style panko bread crumbs-enough to cover top layer

Instructions

—as I pointed out earlier, many of my ingredients were from items I had in the fridge (baked potatoes & cooked bacon from previous meals, but these are easily cooked while preparing other items).

• Heat oven to 350℉
• Shred potatoes for hash browns. Use a coarse shred for this if possible. Line the bottom of a glass casserole or baking dish with hash browns after coating with pan-spray. Season with Cajun seasoning (or anther seasoning if Cajun is too spicy)
• Place hash brown layer in the preheated oven to par cook while preparing other items
• Dice the onion and sauté in butter for just a few minutes
• Remove lightly heated hash browns from oven (if your potatoes weren't baked previously, you may need to leave them longer). Stir lightly sautéed onion into potatoes. Top with a thin layer of cheese, about half of the cheese.
• Dice meats into about 1/4 inch dice and mix together and top the cheese.
• Top with remaining cheese
• Scramble eggs together and pour over all the rest of the layers
• Top with breadcrumbs
• Bake at 350℉ for 35-45 minutes, covering after 30 to prevent over browning

Results

Keep in mind that this is only for two people, even though we both had another serving the following day. It would easily feed 3 to 4 people. This is totally adjustable to what you like or have on hand. It would even work well with some added veggies like spinach or broccoli. Maybe i should try a vegetable-rich version next time!

Earl Cooks Breakfast from Leftovers-Ham & Eggs & Potatoes

shown in my Perfect Grip Pan

Being frugal is a blessing...and a curse. I hate to throw things out, sometimes even when I should. My wife, "Turkey" as she likes to be called, will not eat anything past the 3 days in the fridge. She says i have an iron stomach and it is true, I can and will eat most anything. But this is not one of those. The Ham I used is from dinner the night before and the potatoes are from some I baked just days ago. Even "Turkey" would eat this, but she is not quite awake yet and doesn't much like breakfast unless it is for dinner. I on the other hand, LOVE breakfast, but don't often take the time to fix my own. Today frugality meets hunger in a simple and satisfying breakfast that takes only a few minutes and uses those valuable resources-LEFTOVERS!

Ingredients

• Ham leftover from ham steak dinner
• Potatoes from stuffed baked potatoes
• 2 Large AA Fresh Eggs (supermarket fresh, not hen house fresh)
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

• Dice potatoes and place in a HOT pan (Medium High) allowing them to brown on all freshly cut sides. (I added s small amount of pan spray for this browning, even though I used a NON-STICK pan). Potatoes are cooked through from baking so browning and warming through is all that is needed.
• Dice ham in, and add to potatoes to warm
• Scoot potatoes and ham to the side of the pan, and crack the 2 eggs into the pan, topping with fresh cracked pepper. Add a small amount of water directly to the pan bottom and cover. This steam will cook the top of the eggs while the direct heat cooks the bottom but please keep the yolk runny because when that yellow goodness runs into the ham and potatoes you have a near perfect breakfast combination.
• Serve it up with toast you cooked while waiting for the eggs to cook so you can soak up any residual golden goodness.

Results

Need I say more? NO! I need to go fix me some BREAKFAST!