Jackson Jambalaya

Here is my Favorite

I think Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” in one of his early editions of Little Richard's Almanac.

That would have been before he got the much-desired gig of having his likeness on the Benjaman

He may have first said that when he was working late night shift as the grill man at the Philadelphia Waffle House while working on inventing electricity.

Knowing how fond of early morning eating Ben must have been to come up with such profound culinary statements, I bet he would have loved this belly filling tasty morning casserole. It would have been a nice dish to feed the guys in Constitution Hall while they were waiting on Tommy J. to finish writing the Declaration of Independence.

Sorry. Here is a nice recipe for a really good breakfast casserole. You can make it the day before folks come by. You can freeze it and use it when folks visit. We even make it for dinner when no one is scheduled to ding with us.

Sausage and Rice Breakfast Casserole

If desired, make this one and keep in the freezer until your company arrives. Either store it for a day in the refrigerator, or cook it covered, with a little extra water added. Always a hit at our house.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of sausage, browned
2 1/2 cups of rice (basmati, or long grain) cooked.
4 stalks celery - diced and sautéed in butter
1 medium onion, diced and sautéed in butter
2 cans cream of celery soup, diluted half water and half soup.
Black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

You can cook everything the day before and store in the refrigerator or freezer until the next morning, or cook any portion and store in the refrigerator, or freezer until needed. Will keep in freezer for several weeks.

Cook the rice (1X rice and 2X water or chicken stock) and hold until assembling the casserole.

Brown the sausage and set aside. 

Sautee the celery and onion in a little butter.

Set up the casserole dish with half of the rice you intend to eventually add. Add half of the sautéed celery/onion over the rice.

Add 2/3 of the cooked sausage, then the rest of the rice, followed by the rest of the sausage and the celery/onion.

Dilute the soup half and half soup/water and pour the diluted soup over the sausage. Cook in oven, covered with foil, at 350 degrees f until all is hot (30 minutes). If cooking from frozen, cook for 20 minutes, then add some water or chicken broth, recover with foil, and continue cooking until all is hot.