Southwest Breakfast StrataSouthern Living Annual Recipes 2005 Copyright 2005
1 pound mild ground pork sausage I used turkey breakfast sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped I left this out
2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles
8 (10-inch) flour tortillas, torn into bite-size pieces
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded colby-Jack cheese blend
6 large eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain and return to skillet.
Add chopped onion and bell pepper to sausage in skillet, and sauté over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes and green chiles; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Layer half each of tortilla pieces, sausage mixture, and cheese in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Repeat layers.
Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper; pour over layers in baking dish. Cover and chill up to 8 hours, if desired.
Bake, lightly covered with aluminum foil, at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
___________________________
Brunch recipes have been requested in the past but for some reason I never think in this direction when I'm planning dinners. I've never actually served a brunch - that just isn't something that's ever come up here. Savory brunch dishes are perfect for dinner though.
I almost bought the pork sausage for this but as I hesitated after reading the fat content, a lightbulb went off above my head and I remembered I had some turkey breakfast sausage in the deep freeze. I picked it up for $2.09/pound on clearance. I had to remove it from the casings but it was worth it to save over half the fat of the pork sausage.
This worked out great. I baked it off right away on Sunday and then we just nuked it for dinner the next night. It was nice to come home and not have to cook at all. As far as assembling this ahead as they suggested, I think I would be sure to cool the sausage completely first. Something doesn't set right with me about putting together hot meat and cold eggs and then not cooking it through right away.
We had this Monday and I've just managed to finish up this post today, on Thursday. After a record amount of time for any hobby of mine, I think food blogging has finally run it's course for the most part. I'm not ready to walk away completely but don't expect to see daily posts here anymore. It's not so much the blogging as it is the food that needs to step out of the spotlight. I turned 40 in October. 40. The holidays and some other things managed to distract me for a while but now the realization that I'm old has hit me and I've decided that it's time to get back in shape. You might be thinking that I could just focus on lighter recipes but what I need to do is stop focusing on food, period.
So, I'll be around, just not as regularly. I almost feel like this is the beginning of the end for this blog but I really don't know.




