Cooking in the UK - Breakfast Casserole

After going home for Christmas, some friends of our brought their dog back to Edinburgh with them.  We've been getting the dogs together for long walks to play and burn some energy.  Last weekend Luke had to work so he didn't get to join us.  This weekend we planned an outing to the west side of the city and invited our friends over for brunch before our adventure.  Unfortunately Bethany hurt herself Friday night and wasn't able to join us so we're still working to find a time when all 6 of us can go explore.  Luckily there are so many places to explore that eventually we should be able to do that.

Anyway - as I was deciding what to make for brunch I thought back to this awesome breakfast casserole that our friend Megan introduced to us.  It's your typical breakfast casserole with eggs, sausage or bacon and eggs.  Should be no problem, right?  Wrong!

I am most thankful for my iPhone when I am at the grocery store.  I always have to Google substitutes or UK equivalents or what things are called by the Brits.  Yesterday I had to Google both Swiss cheese and frozen hash browns.  

Luckily Swiss cheese was easy.  Apparently Swiss cheese is actually an American version of Swiss Emmental cheese.  Done.

Hash browns were not so easy.  There is a section about 6 feet long of frozen potatoes but the only hash browns are shaped like triangles.  Not exactly what I needed for my casserole.  So I did the Google and learned that I could boil potatoes and then shred them to make my own.  And that's what I did.  

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  I was rushing and my hands were all covered in potato while I was trying to take the picture.

It was a success!!!  The casserole tasted great and it was probably actually better for us because the potatoes were fresh.

So that's my second adventures in cooking story for you.  Moral of the story is - always keep your smart phone handy and give yourself some extra time in case you have to substitute.  

Here's the recipe so that you can enjoy the awesomeness that is this breakfast dish.

Cheesy Amish Breakfast Casserole

1 pound sliced bacon, diced (or 1 pound sausage because I'm not a big fan of the bacon here)

1 sweet onion, chopped

4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed (or 4 cups freshly made shredded potatoes)

9 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese 

1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir bacon and onion until bacon is evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain. Transfer bacon and onion to a large bowl. Stir in potatoes, eggs, Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and Swiss cheese. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until eggs are set and cheese is melted, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Love you & miss you!

Aubs, Luke & Luther