Spinach and Cheddar Wheat Strata

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I recently received a complimentary loaf of Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax bread. 

Since Bret and I don't eat a lot of sandwiches or toast, I wanted to find a creative way to use the bread.  I went through my recipe book and found a recipe that I previously tore out from Everyday Food for a Spinach and Cheddar Strata.  I modified this recipe a bit by adding some leftover yellow onion, sliced baby bella mushrooms, garlic and yellow pepper.

First, I gathered my ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 10 ounces spinach
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 package of sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 cups day-old bread cubes (1 inch)
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/4 cup grated sharp white cheddar (3 ounces)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

I cubed three cups of the Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax bread.  Since the bread was fresh, I staled them by putting the pieces on an aluminum foil-lined baking tray and putting them in the oven at 250 degrees.  I baked the cubed bread in the oven for about ten minutes until they had the texture of day-old bread.

While the bread was baking, I chopped up the onion and pepper.

After I removed the bread from the oven, I sprayed a casserole dish with baking spray.  I warmed my Dutch oven on the stove and added the olive oil.  I added the onion, yellow pepper and mushrooms to the pan and cooked them until the onions began to soften.

Using a garlic press, I added four minced cloves of garlic to the pan and cooked about a minute longer.  I then removed the vegetables from the pan with a slotted spoon and set it aside.

I then added the spinach to the Dutch oven and cooked the spinach until it wilted.  You can add more olive oil if it is needed. 

When the spinach was wilted, I transferred it to a colander and pressed the spinach with a spatula to get out as much excess liquid and moisture as possible.

I added the bread, mixed vegetables and spinach to the casserole dish and made sure to mix everything up in the casserole dish.

In a medium bowl, I lightly beat the five eggs.  I then whisked in the eggs and 3/4 cup cheese.  I also seasoned the the mixture with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

I poured the dairy mixture on top of the bread and vegetable mixture in the casserole dish.  I sprinkled the top of the strata with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. 

The strata can be assembled and refrigerated for up to six hours before baking.  I prepared this a few hours before dinner so about a half hour before dinner, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  I baked the strata for about thirty minutes until the strata was set in the middle and golden brown on top. 

When I cut into the strata, I was surprised to find that there was some liquid at the bottom of the casserole dish.  Since I strained the spinach well, I'd have to guess that the excess moisture came from the mushrooms, which can retain a lot of liquid.  All that being said, the strata was still delicious and so filling between the bread and vegetables.  Of course, what I really enjoyed most was the cheese in the strata.  I would even consider using a cheese blend instead of just cheddar in the future.

We ate the spinach and cheddar wheat strata with a side salad for dinner, but this is obviously more traditionally served for breakfast.  I think this strata would be a great dish for brunch and I especially like that is a vegetarian dish so that everyone can enjoy it.

Today is the last day to enter my West Bend Versatility Cooker giveaway!  Don't forget to enter before 11:59 PM EST tonight!

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm spending the day with my family and my fiance.  My mom is a phenomenal cook and she puts on quite the spread for Thanksgiving.  By the time you're reading this, I'll probably be in the kitchen doing whatever task I'm assigned.  My mom enjoys doing all of the cooking for Thanksgiving but I usually manage to sneak in at least one dessert.  This year, I decided to make King Arthur Flour's Pumpkin Bread Pudding from the Whole Grain Baking cookbook.

While the recipe calls for the use of whole wheat bread, I decided to substitute it with Nature's Pride's OvenClassics Oatmeal Bread.  I received a complimentary loaf of bread courtesy of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program and it has been sitting in my freezer for about a month.  On Monday night, I took half of the loaf out of the freezer and let it thaw and stale in the fridge for twenty-four hours.

On Tuesday night, I found that the bread wasn't quite as stale as I'd like it to be so I cubed it up and spread the pieces on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  The recipe called for six cups of stale bread but I had more like seven and a half cups.  I put the baking tray in the oven for eight minutes at 250 degrees and let it sit for an additional five minutes in the oven with the oven off.

While the bread was in the oven, I got the liquid ingredients of the pudding together:

• 1 cup raisins (I omitted this because I'm not a big fan of raisins)
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar (you can also use packed dark brown sugar)
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger (optional) (I omitted this since I didn't have it on hand)

In a medium bowl, I whisked together the pumpkin puree, eggs and light brown sugar.

I then whisked in the half-and-half, rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to the pumpkin mixture.  You could definitely smell the rum and I liked that it would be a boozy bread pudding!

I took the stale bread out of the oven and put it in a large bowl.  Since the bread was warm, I put it in the fridge to cool down. 

When the bread felt like it was more at room temperature, I poured the pumpkin mixture onto the cubed bread.  I used a slotted spoon to make sure that all of the bread was coated.

I covered the bowl and let the mixture sit overnight in the fridge.  On Wednesday I took the pumpkin mixture out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature.  I then got to work on the bread pudding topping by dicing up a generous 1/4 cup of pecans.  I then combined 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup light sugar, and two tablespoons of unsalted butter in a bowl with my hands until it made a crumbly mixture.  I then stirred in the diced pecans.

I then pre-heated the oven at 350 degrees and greased a 9-inch round baking dish.  I gave the bread pudding a final stir and then poured it into the baking dish. 

I sprinkled the pecan topping evenly on top of the bread pudding and put it in the oven.

I let the bread pudding bake for forty minutes.  I wanted the bread pudding to bake through almost completely so that I could warm it up (and get the wonderful brown sugar color on top) on Thanksgiving at my parents' house.  I let it cool completely before I put the cover on and refrigerated it overnight.

The pumpkin bread pudding looked amazing and I hope that it tastes as good today as it looked last night!

Happy Thanksgiving!  What was the best part of your Thanksgiving?  And don't forget to enter my Dancing Deer giveaway, which ends at 11 PM EST tomorrow!