Yankee Grits

Here is another recipe that I made for Easter morning. This recipe was given to me from the mother of a friend who passed away last year. It's a great recipe that's easy to put together and has great flavor. The original recipe is for 14-16 people so I halved all of the ingredients. It's from the website Bed & Breakfast Inns. If you have a chance go check that website out. It has a lot of yummy looking recipes!

Ingredients: (these are halved)
1/2 lb bacon
1 cups quick grits
4 cups water
1 tsps salt
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1 Tbsps chopped fresh chives (or 1/2 Tbsp dried)
1/2 cup half 'n half

Directions:

Cook bacon until crisp and set aside.

Cook the grits according to package directions, add 1 tsp salt. Add the butter and cheese and cook until they have melted. Then remove them from the heat and cool a little. Next stir in 2 of the eggs, beaten, and pour all into a 2-qt. casserole dish.



Crumble the extra bacon bacon and sprinkle it over the casserole, setting aside about 1/2 cup of the bacon crumbs.

Beat the remaining 4 eggs and the half 'n half together, and pour the mixture over the bacon and grits. Sprinkle the rest of the bacon on top.



At this point, I wrapped the casserole with tinfoil, put it in the refrigerator and baked it in the morning. Saves a lot of time that way! Just take it out of the refrigerator while your oven is preheating to 350. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes.



I left mine in the oven for longer than 45 minutes so yours shouldn't be quite this brown. It still tasted great though!

Baked French Toast Casserole

The recipe title just sounds delicious, doesn't it? Making your mouth water a little? Yeah, it did the same thing to me.



(Edit 4/4/2010: I've made this three times and the 2nd & 3rd time the french toast was a little soggy on the bottom. Still tastes great but the next time I make it I may pour out some of the liquid before baking to see if that helps - or reduce the milk/half & half. Just an FYI!)

I haven't always liked french toast (I know, I'm weird) but in the past 5 years it has become one of my favorite breakfast foods. My friend Stacy suggested I give this french toast casserole recipe a try. It's by Paula Deen and it's great because you make it the night before. In the morning all you have to do is bake it for 45 minutes. Easy & delicious!

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
Butter, for pan
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Praline Topping:
2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (I only used half a cup because pecans are freakin expensive right now!)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch thick each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch baking dish in 3 rows, overlapping the slices.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.



The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Take casserole out of the refrigerator and start making the praline topping. Combine the praline ingredients into a bowl and blend well. I took the slices and flipped them over. The top looked dried out and the bottoms were soaked in the egg/milk mixture. I just flipped all the slices over and then put the praline topping over the bread. The topping is thick and sort of hard to spread. Just do your best!



Bake for 45-60 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. I ended up baking mine closer to an hour to get the tops crispy, which I recommend. I made this a second time and only cooked it for 45 minutes and thought it was too soggy. I didn't think it needed the syrup that Paula Deen recommends serving this with. We had this Easter morning and actually it didn't need any syrup at all!



Thanks for suggesting this recipe Stacy, it's definitely a keeper!