New Year’s Day starts best with a hearty breakfast

Hope you are enjoying the busy days of the holiday season. Whether you lit candles for Hanukkah, attended Midnight Mass for Christmas Eve, or are just beginning the week-long celebration of Kwanzaa, we have been lucky to spend time with family and friends, sharing our favorite foods, long-standing traditions and maybe a gift or two.

Since many of us will toast the stroke of midnight with a glass of bubbly or other adult beverage, a delicious breakfast on New Year’s Day morning is a good idea. Whether you fall asleep on the couch in front of the television waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square or stand outside to watch one of the anchors drop from the Lightship Overfalls, your first meal of the new year should be easy to prepare ahead of time.

When there’s a crowd at the house (college kids home from school, friends from out of town or members of the extended family), one easy choice is a breakfast casserole called a “strata.” The name refers to the multiple layers in the dish, which include bread, meat, eggs and cheese. The healthier options feature veggies as well, but it’s the assembly that makes it work.

Many recipes instruct you to simply start with a layer of cubed bread, followed by a scattering of shredded cheese. This is then covered with chopped ham, bacon bits or cooked sausage crumbles. The final step is to saturate the contents of the pan with a mixture of seasoned milk and eggs. However, if you do it his way, once it’s baked, you will have a flavorful but thin upper layer over a dense pile of soggy bread.

Over the years, I have tried a variety of different bread, meat, cheese and vegetable combinations, along with alternative assembly approaches. My best success was treating the dish like I would a lasagna – each layer has to include a portion of each of the ingredients in order to make it interesting and tasty all the way through. 

The first question to answer is what type of bread. Potato bread is too soft, white bread is too bland and sourdough can be too crusty, so my favorite is a sturdy, slightly stale loaf of French bread. It can stand up to the custard without losing its personality, but it also doesn’t make the dish too dense or crusty.

The next question is which cheese. My favorite has been a sharp cheddar, shredded or grated from a block, not dumped out of a pre-packaged bag. You’ll want some tang, so Dijon mustard is a must, along with sautéed chopped onions, shallots or scallions (green onions). I’m not a fan of green pepper, but would consider diced red pepper for a touch of color.

Of course, there will be great debate about what meat belongs in this dish. I’ve tried scrambled bulk sausage or scrapple, but find the small pieces get lost in the mixture. Bacon adds a nice crunch but can also make it too salty. My favorite has been diced ham, which keeps its texture and adds a nice flavor. I usually select an eight-once ham steak and chop it into a small dice.

Your choice of seasonings can include salt, white pepper, onion powder, garlic powder or a combination. I typically reach for a Penzeys spice blend called Sandwich Sprinkle. This mixture has salt, garlic, pepper, basil, oregano, thyme and marjoram, a blend that adds just the right notes.

Finally, keep in mind that you can put this dish together the night before and wake up on New Year’s Day to bake and serve it for breakfast. Add a side of fruit salad and a bubbly mimosa. No matter how you celebrate the new year, here’s wishing you peace and good health in the days ahead. Happy New Year!

Breakfast Strata
1 T butter
4 sliced green onions
8-oz ham steak, diced
4 C stale French bread, cubed
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 C milk
6 eggs
1 T Dijon mustard
2 t Penzeys Sandwich Sprinkle*

To be completed the night before: Coat the inside of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a small skillet, melt the butter and sauté green onions until translucent; set aside. Place one-third of bread cubes in an even layer in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with one-third cheese and one-third of the sautéed green onion. Repeat for two more layers. In a mixing bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the pan; press down with a spatula to ensure the bread is moistened completely. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Remove pan from the refrigerator about 1 hour before baking. Cook at 375 F until puffy and browned, about 45 minutes. Allow to rest before slicing. Yield: 4 to 6 servings. *Note: substitute 1/2 t each of garlic powder, onion powder, basil and oregano.