Going Caker

...but not completely as I didn't use Velveeta. I did buy a brick of the stuff last weekend though. I was attracted to the special collector's edition Daytona 500 box. I wish I were joking. Anyway, if I'd had the Velveeta, I'd have used it here.

Mr. ETB thinks I'm having some sort of reaction to all the pretentious food blogging on the web. That's not completely wrong, but I don't think this particular meal was a conscious rebellion. I mean, if I want to wage class warfare, I don't need stale bread, and a Pyrex dish to do it.

What I used:

Stale yeast bread made with corn meal
Sliced tomato
Tinned Corn
Spaghetti Sauce
Colby/Jack cheese
Eggs
Milk

And probably some salt and pepper, but not too much because the corn and sauce were pretty salty.

What I did:

I made something you could call a savoury bread pudding, or a strata, or French toast with cheese and corn, or god, I don't know what I did, but Mr. ETB loved it (once he got over the initial shock because this clearly ain't the sort of thing he walks through the door expecting.

A few hours before dinner, slice the bread and soak it in a combination of eggs/milk/cream or whatever your arteries think is good. I used about 6 egg whites, and 4 whole eggs. Maybe 2 cups of milk. Since this was a cleaning out the fridge kind of meal, I wasn't being too particular. Grease your pan. Just do it-you'll thank me. Lay out a layer of egg soaked slices of bread. Place a heap of corn on each one, add a slice of tomato, and some cheese. Top with another slice of soaked bread, and repeat. When you are all done, pour any remaining liquid over the bread. It should just nearly cover-if not, add more milk, cream, whatever. Now cover it, and let it sit in the fridge several hours.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cover the top of the dish with foil. Bake 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake another 30 until cheese is golden, and most of the liquid is soaked up. Before serving, add your spaghetti sauce (warmed) and extra cheese if you want to get all fancy.

I might as well confess to having served this with a pear salad on cottage cheese with French dressing. If I had some lime Jell-O I'd....I'd probably be in 1973. This dinner nearly was, but it was enjoyed (and not just for the novelty) and it reheated nicely the next day.