Steve's Easy Breakfast Casserole

by Steven Hicks

This is my easy breakfast casserole that I make almost every weekend. It goes together in just a few minutes, leaving an hour to do other things while breakfast is cooking unattended in the oven. You can prepare this dish the night before, cover and refrigerate. The next morning, just pop it in a preheated oven. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator and can be re-heated in the microwave.

• 3 cups frozen hashbrown potatoes, the matchstick variety
• 7-8 eggs whisked with about 1/3 cup cream or half & half
• 3 or 4 pats of butter
• 1 4.5 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 6 pork sausage links (the kind without cases, e.g. Jimmy Dean)
  (if your link sausages have cases, I suggest you slit and remove them)
  
• 1 cup grated cheddar or Swiss cheese
• salt & pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper (optional)

Use a 9x13 glass glass baking dish sprayed with Pam, non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cover the bottom of the glass baking dish with about three (3) cups of frozen hashbrown potatoes; the matchstick variety works best. Salt and pepper the hashbrowns and dot with three or four pats of butter broken into small pieces. Drain the can of sliced musrooms and scatter evenly over the hasbrowns.

Slice the sausage links into small thumb-sized pieces and place them evenly over the entire dish. The sausage links can be frozen or not frozen--doesn't matter. Scatter grated cheese over all. Normally, I used sharp cheddar cheese but a good Swiss cheese is nice change of pace.

Whisk 7-8 eggs together with about 1/3 cup cream, half & half or whole milk. Add a dash of cayenne pepper if you wish. Pour the egg mixture evenly over all and bake 50-60 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

If you don't have link sausages, simply slice bulk sausage into rounds, then quarter them. You can also use pre-cooked, cubed ham. Serve with toasted English muffins, and some fresh fruit.

For more of my Favorite Recipes, click here!