Potato Rosemary Bread Strata With Asparagus And Gruyere Recipes

FARMER'S STRATA

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp; add ham and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender; drain. , In a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, layer half the bread cubes, potatoes and cheese. Top with all of the bacon mixture. Repeat layers of bread, potatoes and cheese. , In a large bowl, beat the eggs; add the milk, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over all. Cover and chill overnight. , Preheat oven to 325°. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 65-70 minutes.

HOW TO MAKE A STRATA

Steps:

• Grease a 9x13 pan. Chop bacon into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Cook until crispy. Set aside on paper towels and pat to remove excess grease. Pour all but a couple of tablespoons of the bacon grease out of the pan. Cook shallots in remaining fat until softened. Set aside. Whisk eggs for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in milk, mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in reserved bacon, shallots, cheese, and parsley. Fold in the torn bread. Pour into the prepared pan and cover with foil. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, up to 24. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Bake strata for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until golden, puffed, and set in the center. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. (The strata will deflate as is rests.) Scoop portions with a large spoon rather than trying to cut into squares.

ASPARAGUS GRUYERE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Trim uneven edges. Place pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle. Using a fork, pierce dough inside the markings at 1/2-inch intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
• Remove pastry shell from oven, and sprinkle with Gruyere. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell; arrange in a single layer over Gruyere, alternating ends and tips. Brush with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

ROSEMARY-GARLIC POTATO BREAD

Steps:

• Peel and coarsely chop the potatoes. Squeeze the garlic from the garlic head into a medium bowl and add the potatoes.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the yeast, 2 cups warm water, and the sugar and let the yeast bloom for about 7 minutes, or until bubbly. Add the olive oil, potatoes, garlic, salt, and flours. Mix on medium speed for 15 minutes.
• Turn the dough out into an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.
• Punch it down and let it rise again for 1 hour. Punch it down again and cut the dough in half. Shape each loaf into a ball, place them on a baking sheet, and let them rise for 45 minutes, or until nice and poofy.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Brush the loaves with olive oil and sprinkle them with a wee bit of salt and some rosemary. Cut a big slash across the top of each and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the loaves are a nice rich brown and sound hollow when tapped. Let cool on a wire rack. Never refrigerate!
• Bake potatoes (preferably russet potatoes - the big brown ubiquitous ones) in the oven. Rub the potatoes with a bit of olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. Stick 'em with a fork like 20 times all over the place to let the steam out. Place them on a baking sheet and roast at 425 degrees F for 1 hour. The skin will get nice and crispy and you can scoop out the potato meat really easy, and also enjoy the skins as a snack while you bake. (As a poor culinary student, I always saved my potato skins as dinner. How did that bacon end up in my backpack? That's weird!
• You should know how to roast garlic - it may save your life one day. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Chop off the pointy end of the head of the garlic and expose the cloves. Drizzle olive oil right onto the exposed garlic, wrap it tightly with aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes. Really, though, don't time it - just roast them until they smell amazing. You'll know it when you smell it. You'll also know very quickly if you over-roast it - it'll smell awful and burnt. Throw that crap away and start over.

POTATO ROSEMARY BREAD STRATA WITH ASPARAGUS AND GRUYERE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Spray bottom and sides of a 13" x 9" x 2" glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place half of the bread cubes in the bottom of the dish. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and cook until just tender - about 3-4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cool water.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine cheeses. Add chives and parsley and then gently mix.
• Place half of the asparagus on top of the bread cubes, then half of the cheese mixture.
• Then put half of the egg mixture on top.
• Repeat with remaining bread, asparagus, cheese mixture and egg mixture.
• Make sure the bread cubes are mostly submerged in the egg mixture. If not, press them down.
• For best results, let mixture rest for 15 minutes before cooking so the bread can absorb the egg.
• Place glass baking dish on a baking sheet into the preheated oven.
• Bake 35-40 minutes, until browned and puffed.