We love Eggs Benedict.  But, really.  Who doesn’t?  This is the perfect make ahead, ready-in-the-fridge sort of breakfast, or any meal for that matter. The Goddess knows a homemade hollandaise is always the way to go, but she’s a realist.  She knows there are those among us, including herself, that periodically has a lapse and wants to just make things easy, so we use a mix.  She forgives these little human foibles.  Knorr® makes the best mix I’ve encountered.  I add a little extra lemon juice and it’s a reasonable option, particularly in such an instance as this casserole.  If you’re vegetarian, leave the ham out.  You can add peas or diced roasted red pepper or some green chiles and scallions…you have options.  We like the ham, but this would be very tasty without the ham.

It is essential that this be made the night before, or at least 6 hours before you bake it.  I’m choosing the 6-8 hour option, as it’s almost 3 a.m. and The Goddess is wide awake.  I understand this happens to women of a certain age, and it allows me to do some cooking.  You know the old adage, “when life deals you lemons, cook!!”  So that’s what she did.  Tonight, she was able to ready some Apple Butter Glazed Pork Belly, fill the Cassata cake we’ll have for dessert tomorrow’s brunch and prepare this casserole.  Oh, well.  It is, what it is.  And tomorrow, or rather today, is another day.

Note that the English muffins were toasted, then torn into pieces about the size of a silver dollar.  Do they mint silver dollars anymore?  Hmmm…I’m rambling, aren’t I?  For full disclosure purposes, I “toasted and tore” last week, thew the bits into a freezer bag and into the freezer they went.  I just let the bag sit on the counter for about 20 minutes and they pretty much thaw out.  Also, in this version I used both whole wheat and original muffins.  Dice the ham, beat the eggs with the milk, cream, lemon zest, cayenne and salt and pepper.  Really whip it up; stir in the toasted muffin bits and the ham.  Let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes, then give it another good stir and pour the whole mess into a buttered casserole dish.

I place cold casseroles like this one in the oven and then turn the oven on; in this case, turn it to 325°F.  That way, there are no nasty cracking of dishes.  It happens and you don’t want to risk losing this yummy mixture.

I don’t know how this would work if you use gluten-free English muffins.  You can try it, of course.  My concern would be how they would hold up, but it’s a casserole, so I suppose that probably wouldn’t matter so much.  Let me know if you decide to make this.

This is a pretty all-inclusive casserole.  It’s very nice served with sliced, garden tomatoes in the summer.  If you’re making this at any other time of the year, use cherry tomatoes, as they have more flavor than hot-house tomatoes.  Or opt for steamed broccoli or asparagus.  Speaking of asparagus, I think asparagus might be a really nice addition to the casserole.

Okay.  The kitchen is clean, breakfast is resting in the fridge, and I’m going to hop upstairs and see if I can sleep now.  Thanks for tuning in and I’ll see you in the morning!

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