Bacon, Tomato, & Cheese Breakfast Casserole

I wish there was a better name than "Casserole".  That word evokes thoughts of a cafeteria or a boring dish somebody's mother whipped up back in the 50's.  (Sorry 1950's moms.)

This was one of those meals where I looked at what we had in the house, and saw a few ingredients that lead me to this idea. We had a fresh loaf of bread, tomatoes from our garden, and baby red potatoes. For some reason, breakfast casserole was calling my name.

I should say I really like breakfast casseroles, for what it's worth.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Start by whipping 6 large eggs together in a big bowl.  Then add 1 cup of skim milk and 3/4 cup of half-and-half (that's what we had on hand).  You could just use all whole milk if you've got it.  I was pilfering from our coffee creamer ... which reminds me, we're almost out.

Next add 3/4 tsp of dried mustard and salt & pepper and whisk it into a frenzy.

I normally would use sausage in a casserole like this; but my wife doesn't really like sausage. So I used bacon instead. I like to cut it first into small pieces.  This is really easy if your bacon is partially frozen. We usually split a pack into three allocations of bacon and individually wrap them in foil. If I don't freeze 2/3 of a package of bacon, I'll eat it all inside of a week.  And that isn't very good for you.

After saying all that, I didn't think this was enough bacon.  So I sliced up some deli ham and cooked it in the bacon fat.  Don't tell my wife that.  I'm pretty sure she isn't reading this anyway.  But I wanted there to be more meat in the casserole.

Cube about 4-5 slices of bread, or a decent hunk of a large loaf.  I also diced up a fresh tomato and tried to let a fair amount of the juices run off the cutting board.

Mix all that together in your bowl with about 6 oz of shredded cheese. Then spray a square casserole dish with non-stick spray, and pour it evenly into the baking dish.  That should cook anywhere from 40-50 minutes in the oven. Some of that will depend on what consistency you like your casserole.  The bread is going to give it body and thicken it; but some people like the egg to be loose and some people like it set up more.  Let it set for 10 minutes and top with some sliced green onions.

This is such a rich and wonderfully filling dish. I love the cheese, egg, bacon combination. Then when you add some creme or milk and fresh bread, you've got yourself a winner in my book.  And I even got a compliment from my wife that it was a "good idea".  That always feels nice.