Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. That pretty much sums up my holidays. Every year, I say I’m going to get everything done in advance, so that the days leading up to Christmas can just be filled with one (or more than one) of those cheesy Christmas movies that is my guilty pleasure. It’s crazy how quickly time passes during this most wonderful time of the year…that the next thing you know, it’s Christmas Eve!
And, well, every year, it seems that I am always working up until the 11th hour doing last minute shopping, wrapping of gifts and what not. So the last thing I want to have to do is think about getting up extra early on Christmas Day to have to make breakfast. That’s why I love the Christmas Day Egg Soufflé! You can make it the day before so everything is done and you can forget about it…so that the only thing you have to worry about on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day is determining which movies to watch, which carols to sing and whether or not Santa thought you were on the ‘naughty’ or ‘nice’ list.
This is one recipe that I encourage you to utilize as many time saving ingredients as possible….that’s a little holiday gift in itself! You can use pre-cooked bacon, pre-shredded cheese…even pre-sliced mushrooms and black olives, if you like. And thankfully, bread is still coming pre-sliced these days. 😉 You’ve just got too much going on that if you use a shortcut or two, it’s gonna be A-OK! But if you’re one who has the time to do it all yourself, fine by me!
To get the Egg Soufflé ready to serve is a snap! I don’t know about you, but we’re usually up at the crack of dawn with my niece and nephew, who are screaming that Santa came. (Rightfully so, they’ve been on the ‘nice’ list for several years running). So, right before we start opening the gifts, I pull out the Egg Soufflé from the fridge and turn on the oven. A few minutes later when they’re playing briefly with Toy #3, I sneak away to put the soufflé in the oven and set the timer for an hour. By the time all the gifts are opened and everyone has worked up an appetite, the soufflé is ready. I usually like to take it out of the oven and let it sit for about 10-20 minutes before serving it up…this will let it firm up just a touch.
The recipe you see below is the one I made in the YouTube video; it’s the traditional recipe. But don’t worry, if you want to get a jumpstart on your New Year’s resolution, you can make this breakfast insanely healthy too! No problem!
My sister loves working out and she is an incredibly healthy eater, so I’ve had a lot of practice whipping up a healthy version of the Christmas Day Egg Soufflé too. Just use turkey or veggie sausage and turkey bacon instead of their full-fat counterpart…or if you want to go straight vegetarian, just cook up some spinach with the mushrooms and completely eliminate the meat all-together. Substitute low-fat cheese for the regular cheese and use cooking spray instead of the butter. Finally, use low-fat or non-fat milk and substitute egg whites or egg-substitute for the eggs. Voila, this soufflé is now screaming HEALTH FOOD and it’s packed with a ton of protein that will sustain your energy for that late-afternoon Christmas run!
Mom and Dad with the Christmas Day Egg Soufflé (circa 2005)
This Christmas Day Egg Soufflé has been a tradition in my family since I can’t remember and I hope that you might consider making it a new tradition in yours. If you want to go full-out Fucci Family Christmas tradition, while the soufflé is cooling, my mom would serve a great fruit salad that consisted of peeled wedges of citrus, like grapefruit and orange. You can throw a Maraschino cherry in there for good measure. You must peel the membrane on the citrus though…it does make a huge difference and makes the grapefruit super sweet. In recent years, don’t tell, but we’ve been using pre-peeled citrus, like this gem from Del Monte: Yummy Citrus. It saves a ton of time and worth every penny! Sometimes, it’s even available at Sam’s Club or Costco if you need a bigger jar at that big box store bargain price!
I don’t know where this year has gone. It’s just zoomed by! As this is my last blog before Christmas, I want to take a moment to thank you for being part of Tiny Kitchen Big Taste this past year. Your support, comments and questions have been a huge gift to me this year and I am so thankful that you have shared your Tiny Kitchen cooking experiences with me.
This coming year, keep those comments coming and please, if there’s a recipe you want to see, send it my way!! While I love creating my own recipes, I also love cooking up great recipes that are other people’s favorites.
I hope you’ll find some time to unwind and relax this holiday season…and whether or not you celebrate Christmas in your family, I hope this time of year is one of great joy and happiness!
All the best…and Merry Christmas!
Christmas Day Egg Soufflé
Ingredients
SO WHAT YOU'RE GONNA NEED IS:
- 12 slices Sourdough Bread, sliced
- 5 slices Bacon
- 6 ounces Breakfast Sausage
- 1/2 lb. Cheddar Jack Cheese
- 6 ounces Mushrooms
- 10 large Black Olives
- 6 Eggs
- 2 cups Milk
- 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- To taste Salt
- To taste Pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Ingredients
- Shred Cheese (if not using pre-shredded)
- Slice mushrooms and black olives (if not using pre-sliced)
- Cook bacon (if not using pre-cooked) in frying pan. Place on plate with paper towel to absorb extra fat. Drain fat from frying pan. When cooled, roughly chop into bite-size pieces.
- Cook the breakfast sausage (if not using-precooked) in frying pan. Place on plate with paper towel to absorb extra fat.
- In the same pan over medium heat, add mushrooms. Add salt and pepper. Cook until some of the water is cooked out of them. Place on a plate with paper towel to absorb extra water.
Prepare the Egg Mixture
- Crack eggs into large bowl. Add salt, pepper, dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk with fork or whisk until thoroughly mixed.
- Add Egg Mixture to Milk in a large glass measuring cup with a spout.
Build the Soufflé
- Butter casserole dish.
- Layer Sliced Bread on the bottoms, cutting it to fit and completely cover the dish.
- Add layer of Sausage, Bacon, Mushrooms and Black Olives. Top with Cheese.
- Add another layer of bread. Add another layer of Sausage, Bacon, Mushrooms and Black Olives. Top with Cheese.
- Add a final layer of bread. Use remaining Butter to butter the top of the Bread. Add a final layer of Sausage, Bacon, Mushrooms and Black Olives. Top with Cheese.
- Pour Egg Mixture over top.
- Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until thoroughly baked through and the top is becoming golden brown. (Note: You can cook it immediately if desired. Otherwise, cover the Soufflé with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to bake, remove from the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to bring up to room temperature.)
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