Take Advantage of Summer Bounty with a Farmstand Strata

About an hour away from my house is the best farmer's market I've ever had the great pleasure of shopping. Everything in this recipe could easily have come from there, although since I already owned bacon, eggs, sour cream, and cheese I didn't buy them. If you've got a farmer's market near you (and I know you do), this should be an easy way to simultaneously eat healthy, eat local, and enjoy good food.

I had already started cooking the bacon when I realized I hadn't snapped a picture of the ingredients, so I quick pulled it off the stove and set it on a pot holder to do so. I like to chop my bacon raw and then fry it rather than frying it whole and crumbling later. One thing that helps me is my ceramic knives... before I had those, chopping raw bacon would have been impossible. Now, it's just like chopping anything else, and I find it easier and far less messy. Also, and I can't swear to this, but it seems like I get more bacon grease from pre-chopped bacon than whole strips, which means I have plenty for my jar.

Picture-taking was not my strong suit while I was putting this together. Under the cheese and onions are slices of Roasted Garlic Sourdough bread, trimmed and filled in to make an almost solid layer. I spread grated extra-sharp cheddar on top of that, then scattered some chopped Candy Onion (this was a new type of sweet onion for me, and I really like it).

Next layer was the bell peppers. I don't suppose it matters what order you do them in, but I chose green, then yellow, then red. If you're thinking the yellow is an odd colour, that's because you're used to the ones from the grocery store. It took some getting used to for me, but farm-fresh taste, picked when they're ready instead of ripened in a warehouse, more than makes up for their washed-out look.

And then the bacon. I only had about 3/4 pound left, so that's all I used. If you're a bacon freak, feel free to use more. I usually use at least a full pound in something like this.

This is basically what the first layer looked like, with the bread laid out and pieced together to close as many of the gaps as possible. Through some blind luck, the top and bottom layers of bread slices lined up almost perfectly for me, so for the most part it was easy to cut into portions for serving.

I got a little wild whisking the eggs, sour cream, and seasonings. After waiting a few minutes for the froth to die down, this was the best picture I could get. I didn't want to wait any longer or I'd have had to whisk it again so I could use it. Feel free to use whatever seasoning blend you love...I chose the Great Lakes Blend from Spice Merchants. It goes beautifully with both fresh vegetables and eggs, so it was perfect for this strata.

When you pour the egg mixture over the strata, make sure you pour it over all the bread slices on top. Most of it will settle into the bottom of the casserole dish overnight, but you don't want the top layer to be too dry or it'll burn when you bake it. From here, this should be refrigerated at least eight hours before baking. Mine hit the refrigerator around 11pm, and I served it for dinner at 6pm the next day. I wouldn't keep it for more than 24 hours without baking.

This is why you want to make sure to soak the top layer of bread. After baking for 45 minutes, the bread should be starting to brown and get crispy on the edges, but it should not be burned (because ick... my dad loves burned toast, but I do not). Scatter with cheese and pop it back in the oven for a few minutes and you're ready to serve.

See how lucky I got with the bread slices? The center was a little harder because that's where I did most of the piecing together, but both ends easily split so making 12 equally sized portions was a cinch. If you want, you can serve it with sour cream, but we just eat it as-is.

This also freezes well! I put one- and two-serving sizes in plastic Ziploc containers and stacked them up in the freezer. They can either be defrosted in the refrigerator, or they can go directly into the microwave. If you're microwaving it frozen, I recommend using the defrost setting for 5 minutes, then cooking it until it reaches your desired temperature. Since it's already cooked, you just need it to be hot.

Farmstand Strata

Serves 12

1 pound sourdough bread (loaf, garlic sourdough if you can get it)

2 cups cheddar cheese (shredded, divided)

1/2 cup sweet onion (diced)

1 cup green bell pepper (diced)

1 cup yellow bell pepper (diced)

1 cup red bell pepper (diced)

12 ounces bacon (cooked and crumbled)

8 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon seasoning blend (I used Great Lakes Blend from Spice Merchants)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Step 1

Spray a 9x13-inch glass baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2

Lay slices of bread in bottom in a single layer, trimming and filling in the gaps as necessary.

Step 3

In order, spread 1 cup cheese, onion, green pepper, yellow pepper, red pepper, and bacon; top with more slices of bread, again trimming and filling in the gaps as necessary.

Step 4

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, sour cream, dry mustard, seasoning blend, salt, and pepper until well combined; pour over top of bread, making sure to soak each piece of bread on the top layer.

Step 5

Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours (I do up to this point typically just before going to bed; it's long enough for breakfast but it doesn't suffer if you wait until dinner.)

Step 6

Preheat oven to 350F.

Step 7

Uncover casserole and bake for 45 minutes; sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese over entire top and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Step 8

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serving Size: 1 (189.9 g)

Calories 424.9

Total Fat - 23.3 g

Saturated Fat - 9.4 g

Cholesterol - 188.3 mg

Sodium - 939 mg

Total Carbohydrate - 26.5 g

Dietary Fiber - 2 g

Sugars - 2.7 g

Protein - 26.7 g