Bacon, Green Chile Strata!

I know what you're thinking, "this looks remarkably similar to that quiche in the last post....BORING" and youre right! And I'm sorry!
I had to make an egg contribution to a brunch picnic, and i figured why not share it with you all, even though it's not much different than the last recipe. The truth is, this has quickly become one of my favorite make ahead breakfast items, not to mention a Christmas morning staple for my family.
So basically, the order of operations will be very similar to that of our quiche, we are just gonna swap out a few things. A Strata is basically like a savory bread pudding of sorts, so the egg and the veggies and meats are prepared just like a quiche but rather than having a crust, you just layer the filling in with chunks of bread and they soak up the goodness.
So here we go, You will need:

*18 eggs
*1 1/2 C 2% milk
*1/4 C heavy cream (half and half will work also)
*2 cans of chopped green chilies (i actually prefer using whole ones and chopping them myself, but i was in a hurry so these work fine)
*1 Package of apple wood smoked bacon
*1 yellow onion
*2 1/2 C Grated Cheese (for this one i used trader joes "quattro Formaggio" blend, but sharp cheddar and pepper jack are also great if you prefer to not mix your green chile and tapatio with italian cheeses, i just really like how salty the parmesan and romano are, some how the regional inconsistency just works)
*1 loaf of white bread ( I used Ciabatta, but i have also used regular ol' sliced potato bread, and it turned out great)
*A few hearty Dashed of Tapatio
*and as always Salt and Fresh ground pepper

Pre heat oven to 350
Tear up all your bread in to chunks and line the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish




Chop the onion and bacon



Fry up the bacon until it's almost crispy. At this point, your probably going to feel the urge to drain off some of the bacon grease, PLEASE DONT, I beg you! That is the secret weapon, it soaks into the bread and gives a ton of flavor to the final product.





Add the onions. When the onions start to soften, add the green chilies, followed by a generous pinch of salt and some pepper.




Dump This oniony bacony goodness on top of the bread and make sure it's pretty evenly distributed.

Wisk together: the Eggs, Milk Cream and Tapatio, add a few big pinches of salt and a lot of pepper.



Stir a little over half the cheese into the egg mixture and pour it into the baking dish. I usually use a knife or a fork at this point to sort of nudge everything around and make sure the egg gets everywhere.
Now at this point, you can either top it with the rest of the cheese and throw it straight in the oven, or cover it and leave it in the fridge over night.
Either way, add the last of the cheese on top right before it goes into the oven, and bake until it's golden on top, and the center doesn't giggle when you shake the oven rack.




Again, i really enjoy this with a scoop of plain greek yogurt and a squeeze of Sriracha. It's also great with some fresh cilantro and green onion.
And if you really want to go the distance, it's amazing with with Mole. (my Mole recipe will be comin soon)

Enjoy!