Sarasota's Favorite Breakfast Casserole

OK, there are hundreds of recipes out there and all pretty similar. This is mine. One night around 9pm a friend called and said that he and his wife and family were passing through town and would love to stop and take me to breakfast. Well they have 4 kids, and I know they are strapped for cash, so I wanted to do something for them. I decided on this breakfast casserole dish, bacon on the side, fresh squeezed OJ, fresh fruit and yogurt make your own parfaits (kid friendly), and coffee. I also threw in a bag of baked cinnamon chips and fruit mix to take on the road for the kids. The casserole is so quick to put together, but it needs to to set overnight. In the am, just pop in the oven, bake and serve. My original recipe is made with ham, but you could use bacon or sausage. I even cheated by buying a small bag of pre-diced ham right in the meat aisle, but using leftover ham or just buy a slice of good baked ham at your grocers deli and dice it. This was all about easy and quick. I used the Ore Ida frozen diced potatoes "O'Brien" which simply has peppers and onions in with the potatoes. But if you can't find those, you can dice your own peppers and onions and add them. This is a perfect breakfast casserole. NOTE: Prep Time includes overnight in the refrigerator.

• Ready In: 8 hrs 40 mins
• Serves: 6-8
• Yields: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) can  Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls (any brand will work)
• 4  cups  diced frozen potatoes (I prefer the OreIda "O'Brien" brand which has peppers and onions. If you can only find plain diced p)
• 1  cup  diced ham (I cut it down to 3/4 cup if using sausage-pre-cooked and drained or bacon pre-cooked since they are )
• 6  ounces  shredded cheese, 1 1/2 cups (I prefer a Monterey Jack or Colby blend)
• 6  eggs (I used extra large, large would be fine, but jumbo were too big)
• 1⁄2 cup milk
•  hot sauce, to taste
• 1  teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  all purpose  seasoning, your favorite blend (not a seasoning salt, but a general all purpose brand, there are many available these days)
•  salt
•  pepper

Directions

1. Casserole -- Spray a 13x9" pan with a non-stick spray such as Pam. Add in the potatoes, right from the freezer and top with the cheese. Lightly toss just so all the cheese is not sitting right on top.
2. Egg Mixture -- Beat the eggs, milk, seasoning blend, parsley, hot sauce, salt and pepper and pour over the potatoes and cheese. Top with the ham and cover with foil or saran wrap and refrigerate over night or at least 8 hours.
3. Bake -- Heat the oven to 350 and position the rack on the middle shelf. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. As the casserole bakes prepare the crescent roll topping.
4. Crescent Rolls -- Remove the rolls from the can and lay flat. Make sure to add a little little flour to the counter or on a sheet of parchment paper so they don't stick. I take a pizza cutter or a knife and cut the dough along the perforated sections. The rolls come out in a rectangle so I try to lay them right back on the casserole the same way. Cutting the perforations allows steam to get through the crust which will help brown the crust and help the casserole finish cooking.
5. Back in the Oven -- Return to the oven and bake 15-20 minutes until the crescent roll topping is golden brown. Remove and let set 5-10 minutes before serving.
6. Serve -- Cut into squares and enjoy. If you want to really make it special, serve a hollandaise sauce along the side, but I like it as is. Again, you can use bacon or sausage in this recipe, I just prefer the ham and usually serve up some crisp maple glazed bacon on the side. ENJOY!