Casserole

ok so i made Chicken Stock from scratch this morning so that i could make a chicken/veg broth type soup for poor Frank [suffering with cold]
I have never made it before & felt all proud of myself & frank said the broth was yummy [altho how he could taste it with all the raw garlic i have been plying him with]

So tonight i made a wonderful Casserole, which he also tucked into heartily, & i would say please make it as it was yummy :)

Broccoli Cheese Casserole Recipe

• Cook time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 pounds broccoli, stems removed (can use vegetable peeler to peel, then slice and eat like celery), large florets cut, yielding about 8 cups of broccoli florets
• Salt for blanching water
• 2 strips of thick-cut bacon (about 2 ounces), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch wide strips
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 to 3 teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper (1 to 2 teaspoons if using fine ground black pepper)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (1 Tbsp salt for 2 quarts of water). Add the broccoli florets and boil for 3-5 minutes or until just tender enough so that a fork can easily pierce the floret, but still firm. Strain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
2 While the water in step one is coming to a boil, cook the bacon pieces on medium heat in a frying pan until lightly browned, but not crisp. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Set aside.
3 Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. In a bowl, whisk the eggs into the flour, then whisk in the cream and milk. Add the black pepper (more or less to taste), salt, and mustard. Mix in about a third of the cheese.
4 Place the parboiled broccoli florets in the casserole dish, sprinkling about a third of the cheese over the broccoli florets as you lay them down. Sprinkle the bacon pieces over the broccoli. Pour the egg, cream, milk, cheese mixture over the broccoli, moving the broccoli pieces a bit so that the mixture gets into all the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle the casserole with the remaining cheese.
5 Bake for 25-40 minutes, or until set. Once the top has browned, you may want to tent with aluminum foil to keep from burning.

these awards below have been sent to me from http://simplysweetnsavory.blogspot.com/2011/06/sooji-ka-halwa-semolina-halva-awards.html - many thanks Ambreen :)

 Here are the rules of the awards:

1. Accept the award, post it in your blog with the link of the person who has given them to you. 
2. Pass it on to 15 other bloggers to keep the ball rolling. 
3. Let the nominated bloggers know about their award (by leaving a comment on their recent post)