Last evenings discussion on ABC Sydney Evenings centred around eggs and their uses, the difference between omelettes, frittatas, and quiches. We also talked about Strata, a dish I’ve been making for years, basically a savoury bread and butter custard, really delicious.

We also talked about scrambled eggs, noting that the old rule of thumb is 2 tablespoons of milk for each egg. I also add a little cornflour, which I have mixed to a paste with a little of the milk. Two teaspoons for 4 to 6 extra large free range eggs is more than enough. It helps to keep the mixture together without its going watery as can sometimes happen.

I am providing here a chart I put together outlining the difference between omelettes, frittata and quiches and a recipe for Strata.

	Omelette	Frittata	Quiche	Strata
Cooking method	Stovetop	Stovetop (skillet or frying pan), then oven	Oven	Oven
Basic ingredients	Eggs, sometimes a little milk or water	Eggs, dairy (milk, cheese, cream)	Eggs, more dairy than frittata – cheese, cream, full cream milk	Eggs, cream, milk, cubes of bread, a little Dijon, Worcestershire sauce(dash of)
Extra ingredients	(Generally cooked) ingredients – e.g. bacon, onions, mushrooms, asparagus, corn kernels   Uncooked – grated cheese, herbs	Bacon, onion, salmon or other small pieces of seafood, capsicum, asparagus, corn	Bacon, onion, salmon or other small pieces of seafood, capsicum, asparagus, corn	Crustless cubes of bread (2.5cm cubes), Capsicums, mushrooms, ham, bacon, asparagus, seafood.
Stage to add extra ingredients	Added when top of omelette is still little custardy.   Omelette is then folded over the filling	Whisk eggs and dairy, then add cheese and other extras before pouring into pan, where it is par cooked then finished in the oven	Whisk eggs and dairy. Add extras to pastry case, pour egg/dairy mixture over, carefully stir or agitate.  Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake	Crustless cubes of bread into greased dish, top with extra ingredients, then pour egg/dairy mixture over, refrigerate several hours, bake

Strata

Although this dish reputedly has its origins in America, there have been versions around in Australian cookbooks for decades.  The American version tends to later cubes (or slices) of bread with extra ingredients, whereas the Australian version has the cubes of bread at the base, with extra ingredients sprinkled over before pouring in the savoury custard mixture.

Here is the version I have used for a long time.  It’s very tasty, excellent as a side dish or light lunch.

½ loaf unsliced white bread

150g diced bacon + 1 teaspoon olive oil

150 g grated tasty cheese

1 red or green capsicum, deseeded and then diced finely

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

150g grated tasty cheese

60g grated Parmesan

For the savoury custard mixture

6 eggs

500ml milk

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

3 teaspoons mayonnaise

½ to 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Salt to taste

Method

Grease a 20cm round ovenproof dish. 

Remove crusts from bread and discard or save for another recipe.  Cut the remaining bread into  2.5cm cubes.

Place in the dish.

Sautee bacon in the olive oil until cooked, then sprinkle over the bread cubes.

Sautee the onion in the bacon fat until transparent and sprinkle over, along with the capsicum, parsley and grated tasty cheese.

To make the savoury custard mixture – whisk the eggs until just well broken up, then mix in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise and salt.

Pour carefully over the mixture in the dish.  Cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight.

When ready, sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the top.

Bake at 160 degrees C (fan forced) for approximately 50 minutes until puffed and golden and set.