We recently had my friend Jaden and her family up visiting our home town of Mount Dora for some holiday fun.  A little holiday shopping, a little man-made snow sledding in the park ... a lot of good food!

Ordinarily I'd happily invite friends over to stay at our home, but we've got a little 1920's  two bedroom cottage.  Hardly big enough for two families ... although, I could pitch a tent in the basement and we could make it fun like a good old fashioned grade school sleep over.  Hmm ... naaaah.

Instead, our friends Jim & Ana at the Mount Dora Historic Inn graciously hosted them at their Conch House Cottages so they could have their own home away from home.  It's literally just a few steps away from our front door.  The only condition ... we all had to do breakfast together.  Wonder what happens when you get a group of people together in the morning that love food?

Breakfast lasts aaaaall daaaaaaay!

That's my kind of morning.

We had much to celebrate after she and her son, Nathan, and I survived crossing 4 lanes of traffic led by a kamikaze pedicab driver across NYC's 5th Ave.  You can see some Flip cam action of that ride here ...

Notice that we're laughing hysterically.  Lesson learned, when in the face of death ... smile.

The photos in this post are from SteamyKitchen's talented eye and quick triggered shutter finger.  One cup of strong coffee and she's whippin around the kitchen with her 5 lb lens totally workin the food.

In the recipe below, I kept Chef Jim's instructions just as he gave them to me.  For one, I didn't remake this one in my kitchen yet, so I have no comments other than Mmm and Yum.  But you'll notice a few of his notes will make you scratch your head and say, "really?"  Yeah, he's a joker.  He had me once asking our local grocery manager what the difference was between "hens" eggs and "chicken" eggs.  There is none.  Ha ha.

First ... a little food porn ... some drooling ... and then ... the recipe .

I have no words.  No commentary.   Just pure silence awe.

Okay.  One small teeny little comment.  Notice the purple mug in the right hand corner.  Yeah, the one that is the size of a coffee pot.  Jim said his doctor told him he could only drink one cup of coffee ... so he just upgraded his mug.  For all the coffee lovers out there ... that's not lying, right?  It is one cup of coffee, it's just 20 ounces.  LOL!

And one final note ... this was our 3rd course that day.  Good thing I started running as a hobby!

Enjoy!

Italian Breakfast Strata

from the Mount Dora Historic Inn

Ingredients

Egg mixture
12, large eggs
1, tsp dry mustard
4, dashes of your favorite hot sauce
Black pepper to your liking
8, ounce sour cream
½ cup whole Milk
4 oz hand-grated Cheddar
4 oz hand-grated Muenster

Ingredients for Layers
Day old Italian sandwich bread—hand-pulled into ½ inch pieces—about a 1 ½
¼ each green, red and yellow peppers—cored and diced
¼ medium onion—peeled and diced
½ lb of boiled ham—hand-pulled into small pieces
4 oz hand-grated Cheddar
4 oz hand-grated Muenster

Method for Eggs

Whip together eggs, sour cream, and milk—then add spices and blend well—electric blender works best—set aside

Architecture of the layers

1) Grease well a standard pie-dish
2) Layer enough day old bread to cover the bottom of the dish
3) Sautee your onions and peppers in little olive oil—cool—then evenly layer over the bread
4) Then spread ham over the veggies and, finally, spread both cheese over the top
5) Pour ½ of the egg mixture over the layers and let sit for 5 minutes—this allows the bread some time to soak up the egg mixture
6) Add the rest of mixture reserving 1/3 inch of space from the top of the pie dish
7) Place in pre-heated oven ... Then pour remaining mixture just to the top-edge of the pie dish—this prevents spilling of egg mixture—on your floor, in the oven and on your shoes.
8) Bake for 60 to 65 minutes at 350 degrees or check with an instant read thermometer to 180 degrees internal temperature –Allow to temper and set for 6 minutes before slicing.

Note: The Strata will get puffy on the sides first and then the middle will puff during the final minutes of cooking.  If the middle does not puff—it is not done!

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This has to be the easiest and healthiest breakfast I've made in a long time.  Simple ingredients, fabulous flavor. It was given to me by the Grandison Inn located in Oklahoma City and it is their most requested breakfast dish among guests.

Once you make it for the first time, it's the kind of recipe that stays in your head that you can whip up quickly without even thinking twice about it.  Don't ya just love those?

All you need is 2 small ramekins, eggs, diced ham, cheese, and salsa.

I don't know about you, but anything with cheese is divine in my book.

I contemplated just layering the ham into the bottom of the ramekin whole, it just fit so nicely.  But it's much easier to eat and mix with the other flavors if you slice it.

Layer your ham first, then salsa, then crack your eggs and add them whole without breaking the yolk.

Yes, I said whole eggs, not scrambled.  I have to admit, when I read this part on the recipe I thought it was a little strange.  I had to resist the urge to scramble them and mix all the ingredients together. But the end result is yummy, trust me.

Place your ramekins on a cookie sheet or baking dish in case of spillage, and then bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

When the eggs have just started to turn white, remove from the oven and sprinkle on the cheese.

This is me ... making a funny face ... because I nearly forgot an ingredient.

I'm notorious for this.  I could have a "Where's Waldo" contest of finding the missing item in all of my ingredient shots.  But I have a good excuse for this one.

This is something I added that was not in the original recipe ...

hence ...

it wasn't written down.

It's a cup of fresh cut green peppers, tomatoes and onions to add a little color and crunchiness to the dish.

Add back to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.  Watch closely ...

don't walk away to check email ... this happens quick.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 3 to 5 minutes before serving.

Doesn't it look delish?  Happy little healthy breakfast ...

--Rachelle

Grandison Signature Eggs & Salsa

Ingredients

(per bowl or ramekin)

1-2 eggs

1 - 2 tbs mild salsa

1/4 cup diced ham

grated cheddar cheese

Directions

1) Preheat over to 400 degrees and coat ramekin dish with cooking spray.

2) Line the bottom of the dish with ham and spoon salsa on top of ham.

3) Break open the eggs to go over salsa.  DO NOT stir the mixture together.

4) Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until the white of the egg is beginning to set.  Start watching closely after 20 minutes. Remove from oven.

5) Layer the grated cheddar over the egg dish and return  to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and a light golden brown on some places.

6) Let cool for 3 to 5 minutes and then serve.

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