Abercrombie & Feast

Last weekend we joined our friends and neighbours, the lovely and talented Paul and Ali, with a large group of their friends in a huge house in Derbyshire to celebrate Ali’s 30th.  Everyone brought food and we organised big, delicious communal meals.  Which, obviously, included a communal breakfast (brekkie) or two.  Bacon, toast and… ugh… eggs. 

The lovely (and festive!) birthday girl!  Happy birthday, Ali!

It is well documented that I do NOT like eggs.  I just don’t like them and you can’t make me.  This does make the idea of a group breakfast a bit of a bummer for me.  We often go away for weekends with groups of friends and the same thing always happens.  Everyone wakes up, a tiny bit hungover and sleepy from all the wine and laughs and SingStar the night before, and starts frying eggs.  I don’t want to be boring or a pain in the bum, but bacon and toast alone does get old after a while. 

The amazing old house we all stayed in.  Proper British, right??

This time, I was determined not to miss out on the group brekkie experience.  So I took matters into my own hands… and my own casserole dish.  I made a brekkie dish that would satisfy me, satisfy a crowd and not contain any eggs.  It was easy, too tasty and smelled TOO good while it was cooking. 

A side view of the casserole on Saturday morning… see the yummy layers of potatoes, cheese and spinach??

This dish has a lot of traditional brekkie components- bacon, milk, potatoes- all layered up and baked until golden and bubbly.  Served hot with a piece of toast, you won’t even miss the eggs.  I know I didn’t!

Brekkie dauphinois
This is a version of a recipe that I’ve posted previously.  I just added a few little bits to make it better for brekkie! 

Serves about 10-12 as part of a brekkie spread

1 kilo (about 2 lbs) potatoes
6 pieces of streaky bacon
3 cups baby spinach
3 spring onions (shallots) chopped finely
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup double cream
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 170C or about 325F. 

Chop the bacon into lardons or medium sized dice.  You don’t want the bacon chopped too small, you want to be able to see it and taste it in the casserole.  Fry the bacon until it is almost crispy and remove from the pan.  Drain on a plate lined with papertowels.

Drain most of the fat off from the pan you used to cook the bacon and return it to a low heat.  Wash the spinach well, but don’t drain it completely.  Leaving a little water on the leaves will allow them to steam.  Place the spinach in the pan and put a top on it.  Allow the spinach to steam down, tossing frequently to help out.  Once the spinach has shrunken down and steamed, remove it from the pan and place in a strainer.  Squeeze as much moisture as possible out of the spinach.  You don’t want water in the casserole.  Once the spinach is almost dry, toss it to separate the leaves.  Set aside. 

You can peel the potatoes or leave the peel on, either way.  Thinly slice the potatoes.  I used my mandoline and it was much easier, but you could simply slice the potatoes by hand.  You’re aiming for really thin slices. 

Butter a 9 x 6 1/2 inch ovenproof dish.  Layer the potatoes in the dish, adding a bit of cheese, spinach, bacon and spring onions between each layer.  When you’ve layered all the potatoes, pour the cream and milk on top.  Then top the whole thing with the rest of the grated cheese.

Bake for about 45mins to 1 hour.  Test with a knife to make sure the potatoes are completely cooked and the liquid is absorbed.  If the top starts to get too brown, cover loosely with tin foil for the rest of the baking time. 

Let rest for 10 mins before serving.