Weird Wednesday: English Muffin Egg Strata

I love breakfast for dinner, which is weird because I will barely tolerate breakfast for breakfast. I am such a committed morning-phobe that I really can't eat until 10 a.m. or later because even if I am up, moving, feeding the kids, etc. my stomach cannot support the idea of eating until it is almost lunch time. So the only way I really get to enjoy breakfast foods is when we serve them at a normal wake-up time, like 5 p.m.

I miss being a night-owl.

Anyway, when I went to make my normal egg strata I had that sad, Florida realization. The bread had all gone moldy whilst still in the bag! It happens occasionally, you don't even get a chance to eat it because the humidity and heat are such that it makes normal shelf-lives laughable. So I pitched the bread and thought about what to do. My mother in-law makes a wonderful "oven omelet" by beating lots of eggs with milk, salt, pepper, a dash ground mustard and onion and cheese, but I had really set my mind on having a "strata" or layers of bread, veggies and cheese covered in beaten egg and baked.

I decided to use the English Muffins I had just purchased. Here's what I came up with for dinner.

English Muffin Egg Strata:

6 English Muffins
1-2 C shredded cheese
1 C of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 C of chopped onion
8 oz of sliced mushrooms
12 eggs beaten
1/3 C of milk
salt
pepper
dash of Tabasco
1 tsp of dried Italian herbs

I greased the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 inch pan with butter and set it aside. In a medium bowl I beat the eggs with the milk, salt, pepper, herbs and Tabasco. I cut up the english muffins into small cubes and took half of them and covered the bottom of the pan. I thawed the spinach in the microwave on low, just enough so I could wrap it in a towel and wrong out the excess water. I sauteed the onions and mushrooms in a skillet until the onions were fragrant and mushrooms had released their liquid (which I poured off). I put a good handful of grated mozzarella over the bread cubes and then put on all the vegetables. I topped that with the rest of the bread, then another good handful of shredded cheese, over all I poured the beaten eggs and let them sit for a few minutes and then right before putting them into the 350 degree oven I topped the whole thing with a bit more cheese. I set it in the oven for 20 minutes. Your oven might cook them faster or slower, check for doneness by seeing if the casserole has pulled away from the sides and if it is still slightly jiggly in the center; it will firm up once it is out of the oven and cooling. I served this with bacon strips I cooked in the microwave and wine glasses filled with orange juice.

It was delicious, I also think it would pair well with sliced Canadian bacon, or any of your favorite Omelet fillers.