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!

###

Want to add some color to your breakfast?  Then then read on because the blend of lavender, dry mustard, cayenne and green chilies makes this a rainbow of flavor.  But it's not sweet like Skittles. This New Mexico Souffle fills your senses with calm floral lavender and leaves you with a zippy heat from the chilies.  Get ready to have a party in your mouth, New Mexico style.

Tammy with the Mauger Estate B&B in Albuquerque submitted this recipe.    Coming from the South West, full of  bright colors and a little heat, this is a great one to bookmark and whip up in the morning when the grey winter blues stroll in.

Here's what you'll need.  Get out a pen and paper or hit your print button 'cause there's a lot of goin into this souffle casserole.  And unbelievably ... wait ... the world just stood still for a whole 1/100th of a second ... I didn't FORGET an ingredient.  WOW!

Hmm.  Looking at the recipe again there really isn't a whole lot to it.  Didn't mean to make it sound intimidating (or LOOK) intimidating by my big menagerie of ingredients.  I think I went a little overboard with double checking and re-checking to make sure I didn't forget anything.  There are at least 4 of those in the photo that are "accoutrement" for serving.  Including:  the tortillas, sour cream, salsa, and jalapeno that I'm too wimpy for.  Anything that sets my mouth on fire and requires a fire hydrant to put out is a bit too much spice for my tongue.  But, for those that like nuclear heat, chop it up and serve it on the side.

Here's the "list" in order of appearance ...

Whisk together:

8 eggs, 1/2 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 3 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp salt, 1tsp cayenne pepper.

Then add:

2 cups cottage cheese, 2 cups shredded jack cheese, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, 2 cups corn, 16 oz. green chilies, and my favorite ... 2 tablespoons of lavender.

Let's take a look, shall we?

All the color spread across my counter has got me thinking of this a a painter's pallet.  Fortunately, it doesn't require anything too artsy.   The lavender smells AMAZING.

The green chilies took me a little while to find at my local grocer.  Mostly because they have "two" Latin food areas.  After I went up and down a few aisles I ended up finding them in the most obvious location ... next to taco mix and shells.  These came in small little cans, so I had to use 4 cans to get 16 oz.  Make a note of that when you go shopping.

And it's as easy as it sounds.  Get one great big ole bowl, whisk together your eggs, and then add the first list of ingredients.  Starting with flour ...

Then your spices and baking powder.

Blend.  Mmm.

Next add your cheeses.  Starting with cottage cheese.  Can't you just hear it plop?

Now.  The recipe called for "Jack Cheese."  I found Monterey Jack.  And Colby Jack.  But not just plain old Jack.  Then it got me thinking, who is Monterey or Colby anyway?  Where did these names come from?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Mixed cheese going into the bowl ...

Then the corn.  You can use fresh, frozen or canned.  I opted for canned.  Just make sure you drain and rinse.

Add in the chilies and stir.

Wow.  Lavender. I love this little flower, but I've never cooked with it.  I've eaten it once, in a cheese that I can't remember the name of, and  it was fabulous.

Rub it together between your fingers to release the aroma and flavor.

Now your souffle is about ready!

Add the shredded potatoes to a 9 x 13 greased pan.

You can just spray it with Pam.

This is my "oh my God, is it all gonna fit?" face ...

I don't know.  I'm beginning to wonder if I should bring out a second pan.

Well, whatdya know.  It all did fit into one pan!  Forgot about that nifty thing called gravity.

Sprinkle on some paprika and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

When it's done, let it cool for a bit (maybe about 5 minutes) and then slice and serve.

New Mexico Souffle

Ingredients & Directions

Whisk together the following:

8 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Then add:

2 cups cottage cheese

2 cups shredded jack cheese

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups corn (frozen or drained canned)

16 oz. green chile

2 tbsp lavender (rub between fingers/palms to release aroma and flavor)

Additional Ingredients:

2-3 cups shredded potatoes (hash browns)

tortillas

salsa

sour cream

In a 9 x 13 pan, spray with Pam and layer the bottom of the pan with shredded potatoes (frozen hash browns).

Next, pour the cheese/egg mixture over the potatoes.  Dust with paprika and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.  Serve with tortillas, salsa, sour cream and raspberry chipotle sauce.

###