Monday, February 27, 2017

Irish Cheddar and Leek Strata

The strata is the comfort food of the breakfast buffet. With its creamy texture, deliciously cheesy taste, and containing all of your favorite breakfast meats and vegetables, it cannot help but make you feel all cozy inside.

In my attempt to celebrate one holiday before it has actually passed, I've been perusing Irish cookbooks. I am not new to the strata, but I found a new recipe, just begging for adaption, in an old cookery book of Irish pub food. This one is vegetarian, and although you could certainly add ham, bacon, sausage, or all of them to it, I'm not sure that you would want to for fear of overpowering the delicate sweetness of the leeks.

 It also calls for stout, so I decided to use one of my favorite local stouts, Corner Kick Coffee Stout from Six Mile Bridge Brewing Company, located in the St. Louis metropolitan area. I was amazed at the difference adding stout to a strata could make. No doubt it would have been just as delicious without it, this flavorful addition gave it that certain something that took it over the top. 

This is a recipe that I think you and your entire family will enjoy. The beauty of this dish, as with all stratas, is that you can assemble it the day, or night before, pop in into the fridge, and pull it out that morning to bake it up while the coffee is brewing, and you're padding out to the driveway in your slippers to get the paper
Irish Cheddar and Leek Strata
Makes 12 servings

8 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup Corner Kick Coffee Stout from
Six Mile Bridge Brewery*
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf challah bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 medium leeks, chopped
1/3 cup diced
Melissa's Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers
1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere
1 1/2 cups shredded Irish cheddar

Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with Pam; set aside. Whisk together eggs, milk, stout, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well blended.

Scatter half of the bread cubes in the bottom of the prepared baking dish; sprinkle half of the leeks and half of the peppers on top of the bread. Top the peppers with half of the Gruyere and half of the Irish cheddar. Repeat these layers one more time. Carefully pour the egg mixture over the top, pressing down on the bread to make sure that it's covered.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes or until the center is set. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

This freezes beautifully for enjoying at breakfasts or brunches to come.

*If you can’t get to the Tap Room to pick up a growler, you can always use Guinness.
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4 comments:

Debbie - Mountain Mama said...

Ok, you got me at Irish Cheddar....it's the absolute best cheddar I've found! I love KerryGold Dubliner, although last night I tried a Wexford cheddar that someone gave me and that was pretty darned amazing! Yum, this looks great, can't wait to try it! And you just reminded me that I have some Irish sausages, bacon, and white pudding in my freezer!

Linda said...

There is absolutely nothing in there that I don't like. How can you go wrong with Gruyere, challah, and stout?

GranthamLynn said...

Wow It does look delicious. And it has Stout in it. Wow.
Sounds like a yummy breakfast! I hope you'll come over to the new Fabulous Party. We are celebrating Spring and Easter. Your post is perfect to share! The party is over here:
http://ourholidayjourney.blogspot.com/2017/02/fabulous-welcome-spring-link-party.html
Enjoy your week!




Miz Helen said...

I just pinned your awesome Irish Cheddar and Leek Strata! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipe with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen