"Mary Jane's Egg Casserole"

I have no idea who the casserole was named after.  We joked that it was named after one of the members of our bell choir, and she rolled her eyes at us for being nutty.

Actually, the identity of Mary Jane might have been discussed in the New York Times article that I clipped the recipe from, but I've long since gotten rid of the whole article; I couldn't even tell you the title of it.  I think it was about some lovely people who were raising chickens.  But I do like a good casserole, and so I kept this recipe.  The neat thing about it, as opposed to other egg casseroles I've come across (and eaten), is that it uses hard-boiled eggs rather than baking raw eggs.  Here's the recipe, halved from the original, and with a few tweaks.

Mary Jane's Egg Casserole
9 eggs
1/2 lb bacon
2 Tbsp butter (or bacon fat)
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 C cream
1/2 C milk
1 C shredded cheese, packed
2 Tbsp C chopped parsley
large pinch dried marjoram
large pinch thyme
small pinch garlic powder
2-3 shakes red pepper flakes

Begin by hard-boiling the eggs.  Your fingers will thank you if you do this far enough in advance that the eggs are cool by the time you're constructing the casserole.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Crisp up the bacon.  I always save my bacon fat, because I use it to grease up pans.  If you get enough fat, you can use it in place of the butter in the next step: make a roux by melting the butter in a small saucepan, then add the flour.  Stir to combine, and let brown very slightly.  Combine the milk and cream in a small bowl, glass, or measuring cup.  Gradually add that to the roux, stirring or whisking thoroughly to avoid lumps.  After adding all the milk/cream mixture, continue to heat until steaming and hot throughout.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Add remaining ingredients.

Grease a 7x11-inch pan.  Peel the eggs, slice them thinly, and crumble up the bacon.  Layer egg slices, bacon crumbles, and cheese sauce, repeating until all ingredients are used up or you are out of sauce.  Cover the pan with foil, and bake for 40 minutes.  Let rest before serving.

I feel like I say this every time, but I really liked this recipe.  It was a bit too heavy on the thyme for my husband and I.  Especially my husband; a little bit of thyme goes a very long way for him.  He also found the texture a bit odd at the bottom of the casserole.  I disagree, but I like gooey cheesy textures a lot.

It was something I really enjoyed making; very much my style.  Bacon and white sauce are two of my favorite things to cook, and this recipe uses both.  It's a great comfort food, with those two favorites of mine, but I don't feel quite as guilty about it because eggs are a good source of protein, and the herbs in the sauce make it taste lighter.  And since the eggs were boiled first, they kept and reheated well, so I was able to enjoy this casserole as leftovers, too.  

There are a couple changes I would make.  As said before, there is a bit more thyme than we wanted.  So I'd omit the thyme, or maybe add just a tiny dash of it.  I think we used a four-cheese blend although the original recipe called for cheddar.  I would stick with the cheddar next time, opting for an extra-sharp variety if possible.  Cheddar and bacon combine beautifully!  I would also sprinkle some extra cheddar on top, and give it 5 minutes at the end of the cook time to get bubbly, brown, and crisp.