Cheese Strata–who would have that one would describe that as a snuggly food.  Snuggly food to me are the meals the warm me when I come home from work, can’t think of anything to make for dinner and oh yeah it’s freezing cold out.  Like today.  So I punted and went to one of my favorite easy dinners — cheese strata.

If you are like me you are an over provider.  For a party or dinner I tend to buy more than I need.  God forbid someone would leave my house hungry.  Sometimes you don’t need a whole 8 pack of hotdog buns.  It just happens and when it does I cut the leftover bread and buns into 1″ cubes and stick them in a zip lock bag and into the fridge.  I just keep adding to it.  It allows me to make croutons, bread crumbs, bread pudding and CHEESE STRATA.

Who wouldn’t want to cuddle up to this?  I usually have milk, eggs and cheese in the house and that’s all I need.  I can also throw in all kinds of yummies like bacon, sausage, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, hot peppers–whatever you fancy.  Here’s the recipe for this one, and trust me it was a bare bones grocery day.

Cheese Strata

• 6-8 cups of 1″ bread cubes (torn or cut)
• 6-8 eggs
• 2  or so cups of milk, cream, half and half (heck, I’ve even used a mixture and have thrown in sour cream
• 8 -16 oz. of grated cheese (I usually use cheddar)
• salt pepper
• dash of prepared mustard (dijon is delicious)
• a few pats of butter for the top of the strata

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 35 degrees and grease a 9 x 12 pan with butter.

2.  Whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper, and mustard in a medium mixing bowl.

3.  Place the bread cubes in the pan and distribute evenly.

4.  Sprinkle the cheese over the bread and toss lightly.

5.  Poor milk/egg mix over the bread cubes, top with butter pats and let them set for about 30 minutes.

6.  Bake for 30 – 4 minutes until it it is a golden brown on top.

7.  Let set for about 10 minutes and serve.

It’s great reheated too!  Enjoy and let me know if you try it, how it turned out and what you added or subtracted to the recipe!  I always measure carefully when I am baking but this is the most flexible recipe I have ever used,

Excuse me.  It’s time for dinner.