Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole

I come from a very southern family and in the south we feed you if there has been illness, birth, death, or just because. Many people tend to bring dinners and cakes. I have found that not too many people think about the first meal of the day. Breakfast is lauded as the most important meal of the day. While a cold bowl of cereal to break our fast is more practical for hurried school mornings, on the weekends and special occasions I like to put a bit more effort into it. This is a great casserole for any occasion. It is both hearty and delicious. Best of all, the most taxing part is browning your sausage.

This breakfast casserole is one I stole from Paula Dean. I simply am giving you a more detailed step by step instructional with pictures to really show you how easy it is and what to expect as you go along. The original recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/breakfast-casserole-recipe.html

You will notice that this recipe calls for whole milk. My family drinks 1-2% milk but I often do bake with whole milk. There is a reason for that and it comes down to the science of baking. All liquids in baked goods help to bind things together, even if just water. But fat plays a more important role as a moisturizer and tenderizer. That means, cakes, muffins, and even quiches that have a higher fat content will come out with a finer crumb and not so dry. Dry muffins, yuk! Now you can use a lower fat content milk anyways but be careful not to over mix or else your product may come out a little tough.                      


This recipe yields 8-10 servings per casserole.

Ingredients

• 1 Jimmy Dean Ground Maple Pork Sausage 
• 8 Large Eggs
• 6 Slices White Bread
• 1 cup Mexican Cheese
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/4 tsp Seasoned Salt
• 1 tsp Prepared Mustard
• 1/2 Pepper
• Non Stick Cooking Spray
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UTENSILS YOU NEED:

• 9x13 baking dish
• Cutting board
• Bread Knife
• Frying Pan
• Large Spoon
• Large Mixing Bowl 
• Colander
• Whisk
• Measuring Spoons/Cup

Directions 

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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Brown sausage on the stove top on medium heat. No oil is needed as the sausage has plenty of fat content to keep from sticking to the pan.
3. While the sausage is browning, go ahead and and spray your 9x13 baking dish with the nonstick cooking spray.                                                                      
4. Next cut the crust off of your white bread. Any knife will do the job but a bread knife is typically a longer knife wit ha serrated edge. It cuts through bread much easier with less tearing of the bread. You want to make a small stack with your bread, lining up the crust edges. Gently place your hand on top of the bread without really pressing down and squishing your bread.                         
5. Sliced bread in half and layer in your baking dish.
6. Once sausage is browned, drain well in colander to remove any excess grease. 
7. Spoon cooked sausage evenly on top of bread slices (promise no one ever guess there is bread on the bottom of this casserole).                                           
8. Top sausage with your pound of cheese.                                      
9. In large mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, salt, mustard, and pepper together until eggs are well scrambled.                                         
10. Carefully pour egg mixture on top of the sausage mix.          
11. Place on center rack in oven and bake until starting to brown, about 40 minutes. 
12. Enjoy!                                                                 
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