Fresh Tomato And Goat Cheese Strata With Herb Oil Recipes

CHEESE STRATA WITH HAM AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Grease a 3-quart gratin dish or casserole with 1 teaspoon of the butter.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, nutmeg, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Set aside. In a small bowl, toss together the ham, tomatoes, parsley, and chives.
• To make the strata: Scatter a 1/2 cup of the cheese over the bottom of the buttered dish, cover with one-third of the bread, and then half of the tomato mixture. Repeat. Top with a final layer of bread and remaining cheese.
• Pour the egg mixture over the strata and gently press it down with the back of a large spoon to make sure the top layer is moistened with the custard. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and drizzle it over the strata. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the strata, uncovered, until golden brown and slightly puffed, about 45 to 55 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
• Yield: 6 to 8 servings
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Arrange the tomatoes cut side-up in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the salt. Dry in oven until slightly shriveled but still plump, about 5 to 6 hours.
• If not using immediately, store the tomatoes in a sealed container in the refrigerator, for 3 to 4 days. Alternatively, layer them in a container with the herbs, cover with olive oil, and store, covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 2 weeks.
• Yield: about 2 cups
• Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

GREEN STRATA WITH GOAT CHEESE AND HERBS

Steps:

• In a medium pot, bring milk and cream to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, place greens, herbs, cheese, salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Once the hot milk mixture comes to a simmer, pour over greens and purée until smooth. Pour into a bowl and let cool completely. Once cool, whisk in 6 eggs.
• Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Scatter bread cubes over bottom of pan. Pour custard over bread and press down so the bread absorbs the custard. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. If you can, stir bread cubes after an hour or so to encourage an even distribution of custard.
• When you are ready to bake the strata, heat oven to 350 degrees. Tuck the goat cheese rounds into and on top of the strata. Transfer pan to oven and bake until top is beginning to firm up but is still slightly wet underneath, about 25 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven and use a spoon to make 6 evenly spaced indentations on the surface of the strata. Crack an egg into each hole and season with salt and pepper. Return pan to oven and continue to bake until strata is cooked through and eggs are just set, 20 to 25 minutes more. Sprinkle with Aleppo or Turkish pepper if desired.

BELL PEPPER AND GOAT CHEESE STRATA

Steps:

• Brush a 9" x 9" pan with oil. In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, Parmesan and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Add bread; toss until coated; ransfer to pan; let sit. Heat oven to 400°F. In a large nonstick pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Sauté bell pepper, onion, thyme and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1⁄4 tsp black pepper until onion begins to brown, 10 minutes. Add bell pepper mixture to pan; spread evenly over bread mixture; dot with goat cheese. Bake until top is puffed and browned and center is firm, 25 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Garnish with thyme, if desired.

SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND HERB MARINADE OVER GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• The night before, in a bowl, mix all ingredients together except the goat cheese. Stir until well mixed. Use enough oil to fully saturate with some extra settled on bottom of bowl.
• Cover and refridgerate overnight. You can occasionally take it out of the fridge and shake it up a bit.
• About an hour before serving, take out of fridge and bring to room temperature. It's ready to go when the oil is no longer gelled.
• Chop mixture in food processor just enough to blend together. Pour over log of goat cheese. Serve with toast rounds.
• Cooking time means to marinate overnight.

TOMATO AND CHEESE STRATA

Steps:

• Line a greased 8-in. square baking dish with four bread slices. Layer with half of the tomatoes, cheese and onions. Top with remaining bread (slices will overlap). Layer with remaining tomatoes, cheese and onions., In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and salt. Pour over the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight., Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.