Cheese Strata
by Greg and Susan Ratajik.

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This is an extremely good egg dish.  It needs to be prepared the night before, which makes it great for the holidays.  My mother used to make this for brunch on Christmas, a dish that the entire family loved, plus it takes almost no effort the day you cook it (all the grunt work is done the day before).  It takes a bit of effort, but it's well worth it.
 

 

Around 2 loafs bread, with the crust cut off. 3 cups milk
3/4 pound shaved ham. 6 eggs
7 oz. Shredded Cheese Salt
1 Cup Mushroom Butter
9x13 pan 350 degree oven for 1hr 10min

 

I general use a combination of sharp and mild cheddar cheese.  In this batch, I used three different kinds of ham: Virginia Smoked, Brown Sugar Baked, and Honey Cured.  I also substituted 1/2 cup of the 3 cups of milk for 1/2 cup of cream (makes the dish a bit richer)

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Slice the crust off of a loaf of standard sliced white bread.

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Butter the pan.

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Place the bread in the bottom of the pan, in even rows.  

 

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Place a layer of ham on the bread

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Cover ham with a layer of cheese.  Add another thin layer of ham over the cheese. (Picture taken of cheese with the second layer of ham half over it)

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Place mushrooms on the second layer of ham. Cover with a bit more cheese.   Cover with another layer of ham is desired.

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Add the final layer of bread.  Make sure this layer is fairly neat, as it's what the diners will see!

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Mix egg and milk.  Add salt.

Carefully cover the top layer of bread with the mixture, making sure that all the bread gets wet.

Don't worry if it looks really moist - if you followed the recipe, it will turn out fine.

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Tightly cover the entire thing with tin foil.  Place in the refrigerator over night (8-12 hours min)

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The next morning, place in oven,  pre-heated to 350 degrees, covered loosely with the tin foil.  Cook for 1 hr and 10 min.  For the final 20 min, uncover the dish.  The final dish should be not be too wet, and should be nicely browned. 

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This is about the moisture level you should expect.

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Suggestions
Varieties of Ham I find that mixing different types of ham can add to this dish.  In this particular batch, I put in Virginia Smoked, Brown Sugar Baked, and Honey Ham.
Cream To add to the richness of this dish, substitute 1:1 cream for milk.   I wouldn't suggest replacing all three cups with cream, but 1/2 to 1 cup works.
Other Stuff! Just about any kind of meat can be put in this dish.  You can even make it a vegetarian dish, with onions and some other veggies (eggplant?). 

 

Oh No!
Too much milk/Not covered even If you add too much milk, use a paper towel to sop up as much of the extra as you can.  If it's still to moist, you can add cooking time to cook it down.   The dish is done when you can pierce it with a toothpick and have the toothpick not come back dripping.

Don't worry to much if you don't get all the bread.  Letting it sit over night will get the whole thing moist.
I don't want to wait overnight! Well, it won't be as good, but you can cook this dish right after making it.  Make SURE that the milk mixture is even, or parts of it will be dried out.  

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