Cheesy Egg Bake

Join us over at the Gluten Free Homemaker for some great gluten free meal ideas and share your own with us as well!!

Some days when I look in the fridge I don't find much. I need to go grocery shopping and I just don't have the time or energy to do it that day. So I look at what I have, bits and scraps left from earlier creations in the week, enough to maybe squeak out a meal. A few eggs, some green onions, mushrooms (always have them, I'm addicted,) 2 slices of swiss cheese, the last of a bag of grated parm, and a little bit of milk in the carton.

I pull out my trusty Better Homes and Garden cookbook. I love this thing, lots of pictures, tasty and quick recipes that are fairly straightforward and easy to convert to gluten free in most cases. There are food stains on my favorite pages, some of which stick together. Not this time though, I open it up to the egg section, a culinary area I usually stay pretty far away from. I'm just not that fond of eggs unless they are scrambled, childhood incident with an over easy egg... Moving on, I start to peruse the egg section.

What do I find, a recipe that seems to be screaming at me, as I read each required ingredient my mind goes back to the bare remnants in my fridge... I have all of them, granted not in full recipe portion but enough of each to make a batch to feed my small family. Why not, I think to myself. Lets give Cheese and Mushroom Brunch Eggs a chance. I just cut the portion sizes (I think I had 4 or 5 eggs, so I cut it by quite a bit) and made the sauce gluten free. Speaking of which, which flour mix do you use for your roux, mine tends to be grainy and I'd like to try something a little different and see what results I get. Please let me know.

Cheese and Mushroom Brunch Eggs, from Better Homes and Gardens and made gluten free.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons gluten free flour
  
• 1-1/3 cups milk or fat-free milk
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese (2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms, such as button, shiitake or crimini
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (2)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 12 beaten eggs or 3 cups refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed
• Tomato slices, cut in half

Directions

1. For sauce, in a medium saucepan melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in flour. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Stir in Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, and nutmeg. Cook and stir over medium heat until cheeses melt. Remove from heat; set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet cook mushrooms and green onions in the 1 tablespoon hot butter until tender. Add eggs. Cook over medium heat without stirring until eggs begin to set on the bottom and around the edge. Using a large spatula, lift and fold the partially cooked eggs so that the uncooked portion flows underneath. Continue cooking until eggs are cooked through, but still glossy and moist .

3. Transfer half of the scrambled egg mixture to a 2-quart square baking dish. Drizzle about half of the sauce over egg mixture. Top with the remaining scrambled eggs and remaining sauce.

4. Bake, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through. Top with tomato slices, if desired. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

5. Makes 6 servings

6. Cheese and Mushroom Brunch Eggs for 12: Prepare as at left, except double all ingredients and use a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook half the mushrooms and green onions in 1 tablespoons hot butter until tender. Beat 12 eggs together at one time and add the 12 eggs to mushroom mixture in skillet. Cook as in step 3. Transfer scrambled egg mixture to a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Repeat with remaining butter, mushrooms, green onions and eggs. Top egg mixture in dish with half of the sauce. Top with remaining egg mixture and remaining sauce. Bake, uncovered, about 25 minutes or until heated through. Top with tomato slices, if desired. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings.

7. Easy Cheese and Mushroom Brunch Eggs: Prepare as above, except omit the first 7 ingredients and step 1. Substitute 1, 16-ounce jar purchased light Alfredo sauce for the prepared sauce. Continue as directed.