Baked Egg Tchoupitoulas

Today was my friend Laura's baby shower. My friend Jen B. was in charge of food, and I asked if she needed help with anything. She said she needed another egg dish, so I said I'd make this one. We had it for Christmas breakfast last year, and it was really good. It's a lot of work and soooooooooooooo unhealthy, but it was a special occasion. I told the husband as I was finishing it up this morning that the amount of cholesterol in it must be staggering. You'll see why! I found this recipe on a website my mother-in-law sent me from a Lousiana tv station. I had kind of forgotten about it until I thought of this egg dish. I need to check out the list of recipes and see what else is on there.

Baked Egg Tchoupitoulas
2 pats butter or margarine
2 cups French bread, broken into small pieces
1 cup whole milk
8 large eggs
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. salted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup fully cooked breakfast sausage links, thinly sliced
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 lb. Lorraine or baby Swiss, shredded or sliced
10 slices bacon, fried, drained and crumbled
1-1/2 cup soft bread cubes, sauteed in butter

First, grease a 9 X 13-inch (2-quart) baking pan with butter or margarine and set it aside.

Then, almost as if you were making a bread pudding custard, mix the milk with the bread, gently knead it together with your fingers, and set the mixture aside to soak and form a slurry.

In the meantime, whip the eggs gently with a whisk or electric beater. Then stir in the salt, pepper, and butter until they are fully incorporated and gently combine it all with the milk and bread slurry.

Next, pour everything into the pre-greased baking pan and gently swirl into the eggs the sausage pieces and the cheddar so that they are uniformly distributed. Then cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight.

Then when it's time to cook, evenly layer on the bacon, top it with the Swiss cheese slices, and crown it all with the sautéed bread cubes. All that's left is to bake the casserole at 400 degrees on the center rack of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the eggs have set. When you're ready to eat, just spoon out a generous helping right from the pan and chow down.

Most New Orleanians prefer to serve this breakfast dish with a hot cup of cafe au lait, a chilled glass of milk or orange juice, and a stack of toasted and buttered English muffins.

*****

I received a lot of compliments on it at the shower. It really was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. I left what was remaining for Laura to take home becuase John can't eat this, and I didn't need to eat how much was left on my own.

John had a boys night out tonight, so no dinner at our house. Will had some tortellinis, and I don't know what I'll have. I'm still kind of full from the feast at the shower this morning!