Breakfast Omelet

## Book Reference

Key Lime Pie Murder

**Hannah's 1st Note: I didn't have the heart to tell Michelle that this dish wasn't technically am omelet. What's in a name anyway? It's like Shakespeare said, *Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?*—or in this case, as savory?**

## Ingredients

* 1½ pounds skinless sausage links or breakfast sausage patties
* 8 slices white bread ***(white, sourdough, French, country, etc.)***
* ¾ pound grated cheddar cheese ***(approx. 3 cups, the sharper the cheddar, the better)***
* ½ cup chopped onion
* ¼ cup finely chopped green peppers
* 6 Eggs
* ½ teaspoon of salt
* 1½ cups milk
* ½ cup half-and-half, or cream
* 1 Tablespoon prepared mustard ***(I used stone ground)***
* 1 can ***(10¾ ounces)*** condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
* ¼ cup sherry\*\*\*
	+ \*\*\*If you don't have sherry, dry white wine will work just fine. Dry vermouth is also an option. If you don't want to use liquor of any type, you can simply add another ¼ cup milk.
* 1 can ***(5 ounces)*** sliced mushrooms, drained

## Directions

* Do not preheat the oven—this breakfast dish needs to be refrigerated before it can be baked.
* Spray the inside of a 2-quart casserole dish with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray. A 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan will also work well for this recipe.
* Cut the sausage links into thirds and sauté them until they are lightly browned over medium heat on the stovetop. If you used patties instead of links, cut each one into four parts and sauté them until they're lightly browned.
* While your sausage is browning, cut the crusts from the slices of bread. ***(You can either save the crusts to feed to the birds, or throw them away, your choice.)*** Cut the remaining bread into one-inch cubes. Toss them into the bottom of your casserole or cake pan.
* Drain the fat from your sausage. Put the drained sausage on top of the bread cubes in the casserole. ***(Mother used to save the fat from sausage or bacon for Dad—he used it for frying eggs when he had one of his penny-ante poker nights.)***
* Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the sausage.
* Sprinkle the copped onions over the cheese.
* Sprinkle the chopped green peppers on top of the onions.

***(Or, if you like things spicy, substitute ¼ cup chopped jalapeños.)***

* Whisk the eggs with the salt, milk, half-and-half or cream, and prepared mustard in a bowl by hand, or beat them with an electric mixer.
* Pour the egg mixture over the top of the casserole, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight.

***(Michelle says that now you can sleep soundly because you know you've got breakfast almost ready to go in the morning.)***

The Next Morning, 2 hours before you want to serve breakfast:

* Preheat the oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position.
* Take the casserole from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Place it on a baking sheet with sides, if you have it. A jellyroll pan will work beautifully.
* Mix the condensed cream of mushroom soup, the sherry ***(or equivalent)***, and the drained, sliced mushrooms in a mixing bowl.
* Pour the mushroom mixture over the top of the casserole.
* Bake the casserole for 1½ hours at 350°F.
* Remove the casserole from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes to set up before serving.

## Hannah's 2nd Note

*Michelle told me that she once used some of her roommates' leftover champagne instead of the sherry and it was really good. I didn't ask her how underage roommate got the champagne in the first place.*

## Conversion Charts

See Baking Conversion Chart for non-USA baking conversions.