Who Wants Brunch?

Editor's Note: Zola is currently floating around the Mediterranean on an Italian cruise ship. We are sure she is going to return with lots of fun stories, but in the meantime we are running this oldie but goodie from the archives. Also, before she left, Zola’s computer crashed and the email wizards have not yet been able to restore her Zola Mail, so she sends her regrets. She has not been able to answer Zola mail for over two weeks now and will not be able to get it until she returns but she promises to answer all of it in early May.

Spring always makes me think about brunch. I think of brunch when I think of families or friends gathering on Sunday afternoons. Mother's Day is a perfect example. Keep the moms out of the kitchen and everyone else can cook. This dish is easy enough even the most novice cook can pull it off. So think about it. Treat your mom this Mother's Day.

Sunday afternoons this time of year see a lot of bridal and baby showers. A strata is perfect for those times. You basically make it ahead (even the day before), let it soak and then just pop it in the oven before you want to serve it. This strata even tastes good room temperature. Confirmations, baptisms, graduations...you get the idea.

Serve this dish with a side salad and some fruit and you have a winner. I'm serving it tonight when my girlfriend Rachel comes over. It makes a great "girly dinner." My dessert is going to be fresh blackberries with creme fraiche as a dipping sauce and a small brownie on the side. Lots of people think blackberries and brownie make an odd combination; that is until they eat both together. Then the skepticism goes right out the window.

My husband and I recently became big brunch fans. We used to eat breakfast and lunch on Sundays. Now we just have a smoothie or power bar for breakfast and read the paper while we wait for the brunch hours to start. When you live in a neighborhood like ours most of the folks have been out late (very late) so they don't even get up until around noon. Brunch is a good option for them.

There are few things I've found I like about brunch in the neighborhoods in Chicago. First of all, there's lots of variety. It's not all French toast and scrambled eggs. You can find brunch places that specialize in everything from Italian to Southwestern. French to Asian. One of our big favorites is Flo. Flo does Mexican/Southwestern brunch. I never thought about eating chilies at breakfast/brunch until I went to Flo. It's amazing what you can do with eggs, chorizo and roasted poblano sauce.

Then there's the $3 Bloody Mary and the $3 Mimosa. Now, I'm not a huge proponent of drinking during the day, but on Sunday at brunch a little bit seems to make the afternoon mellow out and makes it feel like it lasts longer. It just feels a little fancier; like a celebration.

In order to get to brunch, and to wear off the extra calories, we walk to brunch. Sometimes it's a mile or more one way. We walk for about an hour, if weather permits, and then we make our way in for brunch. If weather is bad, one fabulous brunch place is just 4 doors from the front of our building. 100 steps, max.

Any way you slice it, brunch is a winner. You'll be a winner too when you serve this dish.

Enjoy Spring!

Zola

Italian Strata - Brunch Casserole

Serves 6 - 8

One loaf of focaccia bread cut into one inch chunks (8 cups of cubes) If no focaccia is available you can use any hearty bread; even rye if you're adventuresome
4 cups of cubed, cooked ham. What I do is buy one slice of smoked ham and cut that up.
You can also use cubed pepperoni if you want a little more "bite" in your strata
4 cups of lightly cooked broccoli. I just spray a sauté pan and cook the broccoli until its just warmed through and still crispy. I don't want it soggy in the strata.
4 cups of shredded provolone cheese
one half of a red bell pepper diced
1 tsp of Italian spice mix
one half cup of diced onion
one half cup of creme fraiche
8 eggs
2 cups of milk
grated pepper
2-3 cups of spaghetti sauce from a jar

Take out your 9 X 13" oven-proof pan. Spread half of the bread cubes in the bottom. Toss in the ham, broccoli, provolone, pepper, onion and spice mix.

Top with the rest of the bread cubes.

In a bowl, use your whisk to beat up the eggs and mix in the creme fraiche. The creme fraiche will stay a bit lumpy. That's fine. Just mix the eggs like you would for scrambling. Add the milk and stir it around with your whisk until that's mixed in too. Grate pepper to your taste into the mixture. Now pour it over the strata.

You need to cover this and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. The mixture has to soak into the bread. You can leave it as long as 24 hours before you bake it.

Bake it at 325 degrees, uncovered, for 60 minutes. Stick an instant-read thermometer in to make sure it's at least 170 degrees. If in doubt at all, do check the temperature. You do not want to mess with eggs and risk food poisoning.

Let stand on the counter for 10 minutes. During this time heat your spaghetti sauce. You'll serve each piece of strata on top of a bed (half cup) of warmed spaghetti sauce. If you are serving this on a buffet you can put the sauce in a gravy boat and guests can serve themselves.

Serve a salad on the side and you have a meal. Some fruit would be nice too.

Enjoy! Cheers, Zola