Every once in a while you find a wonderful recipe in an unexpected place. So it was with us not too long ago.
We'd briefly stopped at Safeway on our way up to Brightwood to pick up a couple of things for a quick breakfast, including a package of Hormel Little Sizzlers, a couple of oranges, and a bag of sourdough muffins. We wanted to have a light breakfast at the cabin before starting off for a mushroom hunt in a favorite prime bolete area later in the next day.
It's great to have dried boletes on the pantry shelf.
While waiting for the sausages to cook the next morning, I read over the recipe on the sausage box for "Creamy Sausage Casserole with Biscuits" and made a mental note to try preparing this dish some time. That some time was yesterday - both Steven and I agree that this preparation is a real keeper. It's busting with chunks of sausage, bacon, rehydrated boletes and scrambled egg...not exactly a light dish but comfort food isn't always known for its light side.
We found that there are a lot of pluses to the recipe. Left overs (if there are only!) reheat nicely the next day. It's a great way to use some of your preserved mushrooms! And, we believe that it would be a very special way to start the day for you and overnight guests - just do the prep the day before and bake the casserole the next morning while the guests are getting up.
Needless to say we made some modifications to the original recipe on the package recipe, and I am sure that you will do the same if you try the recipe. Give it a whirl; you won't be disappointed!
Creamy Sausage & Bacon Casserole with Boletes
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces of sweet Italian sausage, cooked and well drained
4 ounces of bacon, cooked and cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces
2 cups whole milk
1/2 - 1 cup dehydrated bolete slices, rehydrated, drained, and cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 eggs
3 ounces evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces of refrigerated buttermilk flaky biscuits, cut into squares, OR a batch of homemade biscuit dough
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons butter. Stir in flour and whisk until smooth. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
- Add sausage, bacon, mushrooms and pepper. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together eggs, evaporated milk, and salt. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in skillet over medium heat. Add egg mixture, cook, stirring until soft scrambled.
- Pour 1/3 of the sauce into a 2 quart casserole dish. Top with half of the egg mixture. Repeat layers, ending with sauce. Place refrigerator biscuits on top of mixture, with points facing upwards. Or, top with dollops of homemade biscuit dough that have been lighted brushed with melted butter.
- Bake uncovered, 20-25 minutes, or until thoroughly heated and biscuits are golden brown.