Strata for One (from Foody Julia)
1-2 slices french bread (hearty white does in a pinch, it can be crustless if you want)
1 tsp butter or margarine
1/3 cup grated cheese (cheddar, muenster, your fave)
1 large egg (go with 2 if you’re using thick slices or more than one slice of bread.
2-3 tbs white wine
Splash of tabasco sauce
(secret ingredient, 1/2 pinch of nutmeg)
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a ramekin or small baking dish. The dish should allow the bread to rest against all sides – this will cause the strata to puff up slightly. Spread the bread slice with butter and lay in the dish. Layer the on top (I realllllly like muenster or whide cheddar for this) and set aside. In a mixing bowl beat the egg, wine, nutmeg and tabasco sauce together. Pour over the cheese. (At this point you can refrigerate it…I would prep it in the morning, cover and refrigerate it and when I got would would just toss it into the oven.) Pop it into the oven for 25-30 minutes until puffy and barely browned. Serve with fresh tomato wedges, a glass of the same white wine, and a spinach salad.
The flavour will change dramatically depending on the type of cheese you use. Some folks will make this without the wine, but I think it loses a lot of depth. Avoid red wine for this dish – it isn’t pretty at all. LOL
All the notes above are Foody Julia’s. Here are mine. First of all, I didn’t have the wine. I’m sure it would have added some depth to this. And it needed depth. It felt like something was lacking. I will have to try it again sometime with the wine. Or maybe with a wee bit of dijon…so some reason I’m really digging the idea of a wee bit of dijon in this). Secondly, I didn’t have a good white bread. But I did have a good wholegrain bread. Unfortunately I got it pre-sliced at the bakery and I think it would have been better if it were a bit thicker. I did slice the crusts off though. Thirdly, the cheese I used was pretty mild. I think that this really needs a sharper cheese. If I had some of the Seriously Sharp Cabot Cheddar cheese I think it would be yummy (I *do* have some Cabot cheese in my fridge…some jalapeno cheddar and maybe some habanero cheddar…).
Now all of that withstanding, this came out of the oven looking *awesome*. It puffed up and browned up (or barely browned if you will) beautifully. What happens is that that egg soaks through the bread so you kinda have a layer of egg, then bread, then cheese. Yum! My ramekins were to small for this so I used one of the mini casserole dishes that my mom bought me from Princess House years ago (yes I have crystal mini-casserole dishes – more than half my plates, mugs, bowls and drinking glasses are from Princess House). I just checked their site and they don’t have them anymore. It’s a shame because while there were a bit expensive they are so worth and it and use them a lot. This only took a few minutes to throw together.
Yes, I will try this again but next time with the wine and sharper cheese.
