Ham, Potato & Egg Casserole

By Paul Briand

Every Easter it’s the same thing: What do we do with the leftover ham?

My mother normally gets the bone for a wonderful pea and ham soup that she makes. One of these days, I’ll get the recipe posted.

Last year, I made a Ham Casserole, using a can cream of celery soup as the base.

This year, a stumbled on a recipe TheKitchn.com by way of the Foodily app on my iPhone.

It caught my eye originally because of the bacon. But I decided to re-do the original recipe, substituting bacon with ham, upping the number of eggs and milk, using a little more cheese as a  topping and adding some panko bread crumbs to give it a bit of a crunchy crust.

Ingredients
2 cups cooked ham, diced
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 yellow bell pepper, cleaned out and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
10 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon fresh-cracked black pepper
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3 cups frozen diced potatoes, unthawed
½ cup panko bread crumbs

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a large baking dish with baking spray or olive oil;
2. In a teaspoon of olive oil over medium high heat, cook the onion, yellow bell pepper, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes until all the vegetables are soft. Turn off the heat and let cool slightly;
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly and whisk in the milk and black pepper;
4. Stir in 2 cups of cheese, frozen potatoes, ham and vegetables from the skillet;
5. Pour the whole mixture into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes;
6. Remove from oven and top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs;
7. Return to oven and bake another 20 minutes or until the eggs are firm;
8. Serve immediately.

This was originally cast as a breakfast casserole, but works perfectly fine as a brunch or dinner dish.

Click here for recipe card.

Fried Egg Sandwich with Bacon and Blue Cheese

By Paul Briand

This was love at first bite. No, it was love even earlier than that: Love at first sight when I saw the recipe on the web.

I’m a big fan of breakfast sandwiches that include an egg and whatever processed meat happens to be laying about.

My Dad lacked all manner of culinary skill but developed back in the ‘60s what he called “the Briand Special”, which was a fried egg and fried bologna on a toasted English Muffin.

This recipe -- which I found through a convoluted set of circumstance on the web -- takes the fried egg sandwich to a whole new level of taste and sophistication.

This is the orginal recipe for two sandwiches. I adapted it to make four sandwiches, I substituted spinach for frisee lettuce, and I used turkey bacon instead of regular bacon. You’ll sacrifice some rendered fat by using the turkey bacon, so a a teaspoon or two of butter was needed at the point of sauteeing the shallots. I also used more -- way more -- than a single slice of bacon.

Ingredients
2 ciabatta rolls
1 1/2 cups frisée (French curly endive), torn into-bite size pieces (about 2 ounces)
1 bacon slice, preferably thick-cut
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 to 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
2 large eggs

Directions
1. Split the rolls and toast them (in toaster if they fit, toaster oven, or oven);
2. Place lettuce (or spinach) in a medium bowl;
3. Cut bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch wide lardons;
4. In a small heavy skillet, cook bacon over moderate heat, until pieces are crisp;
5. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels, reserving bacon fat in pan;
6. Add shallot to bacon fat and cook for one minute, stirring;
7. Add red wine vinegar and let hiss and bubble for 20 to 30 seconds, then remove from heat and whisk in Dijon;
8. Immediately pour hot dressing over lettuce and toss with drained lardons, salt and pepper;
9. Remove rolls from toaster and divide bacon-frisee salad between each bottom bun (you’ll want to heap on more than seems feasible or needed);
10. Top each salad pile with half (2 tablespoons) of the blue cheese;
11. Reheat skillet over medium-high heat, add the butter and swirl it to coat the pan;
12. Crack one egg into the skillet, season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium and cook sunnyside up or over easy;
13. Remove the egg from the pan and place it on top of the bacon-frisée salad on the bun;
14. Repeat with remaining egg.

Click here for recipe card.