I am not a big breakfast person. That's not to say I don't like breakfast, I love it. What I don't do is cook it. Oh, I'll scramble some eggs, sometimes even getting fancy and making an "omelet" (scrambled eggs with something fun in it like feta cheese, spinach, tomatoes, etc, isn't that how omelets are made??). I am queen of the waffle iron and pancake griddle. I can pour a mean bowl of cereal and toast just about anything. That being said, I don't do breakfast meats. And, it never once occurred to me that hash browns could be a thing you make at home.
So, when I was shopping on Saturday I spent some time staring at the various sausage products and hash brown options. I also spent more than a little time looking for crescent rolls, then found them by the sausage I'd been staring at earlier. Sausage I figured out right away: tubes of 1 lb abounded, just like the recipe implied, and I couldn't think of a better way to describe it than "bulk". Then came the hash browns. The recipe calls for 1 (2 lb) package, but the small hash brown packages next to the sausages were all less than a pound. Now, I've done a fair amount of recipe-following in my life, and I'm a firm believer that, when a recipe says "1 pkg" and states an amount that should be in that package, usually there is such a package at the grocery store, I'm just not seeing it. Aha - I thought - it must be frozen hash browns! I went to the freezer section and discover that there was a 2 lb package of hash browns there, but to my horror it wasn't shredded, it was in chunks. Alongside it was a 1 lb 14 oz package of shredded hash browns. The kids and husband clearly wanted to go home and eat lunch, so I settled on that, thinking I'd just have 2 ounces less casserole to consume.
On this fateful morning, I examined the recipe's directions. the bulk sausage specifically said "cooked", so I dutifully cooked it. The recipe said nothing as to the condition the hash browns should be in when added to the casserole. Not "frozen hash browns", not "cooked hash browns" not "refrigerated hash browns", not "controlled room temperature hash browns", nothing. I examined a few other recipes...Breakfast Pizza (also p. 46) is similar but also does not specify a temperature. Cheesy Egg Bake (p. 49) is similar but uses frozen hash browns. It was early, and I was beginning to run short on time before my daughter demanded Second Breakfast, so I went with adding them frozen. At first I wasn't sure they would all fit in the pan with the other ingredients, which was my first hint that something was wrong. But, once you've put all that cooked sausage on top, the last thing you want to do is somehow extract the frozen hash browns and cook them, then put everything back, so I went boldly forward, finished the layering, and put it in the oven for 30 minutes (the low end of the required baking time). After 30 minutes, the eggs were still very loose and runny, so I put it in for an additional 5 (the high end of the required baking time).
Hmmm. Eggs still runny.
I put it in for 5 more minutes.
Then 5 more minutes.
After a few iterations of this, the sausage appeared a little worse for wear, so I decided that the eggs were probably heated to an acceptable temperature to ward off food-borne illness. People eat raw eggs all the time, right? Never mind the only time I ever had runny eggs for breakfast I wound up with food poisoning.
I took out a piece and sat down with it. The crescent roll crust was a bit browner than I am guessing it should be, but overall it wasn't badly burnt. I had it with ketchup because it contained a lot of things I would normally dip in a ketchup. It was reasonably tasty... but I couldn't help thinking, was it worth all this hassle? My son was appalled by it (it was covered with sausage and egg, not his cup of tea). My daughter had, while waiting, already had her two breakfasts, so she didn't want any either. My husband woke up and had some a bit later and said his crust was too soggy. I didn't have the heart to tell him that was probably just the runny eggs soaking in!
Overall, this isn't something I'd make again, but I'd be willing to bet my attitude is simply soured based on the issues I had in the actual making of the dish. Plus, as I alluded to earlier in this post, isn't this actually the sort of dish I like to eat only when others make it for me? Maybe someday someone will (if you're ever in the Elkton/Boothwyn corridor with a hot casserole dish of this, Kory, I'll give it another shot!).
Here is a picture of the casserole:
Update 08JAN2014: This casserole is much better as a leftover. Save yourself the headache of making it in the morning and make it the day before and reheat!
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