Jumble, aka Cholesterol in a Pan

A really odd thing happened yesterday--it snowed! Latest snow ever recorded at the Portland airport. It's been unseasonably cold this week, but not cold enough for it to stick. You can sort of tell it's snowing from this picture, though:



Yesterday for dinner I made split pea soup, again, only this time with yellow split peas. I used a sweet potato again like I did last week, and it turned out fantastically delicious, as always. Served it with crusty warm take-home-and-bake pugliese, and a simple spinach salad with hard-boiled eggs (yes, I'm still using up those darned Easter eggs! See more below) and grape tomatoes.

The other day I was at a bit of a loss as to what to make for dinner. I knew I had some cauliflower, and some hard-boiled eggs, and some cream, so I thought I might make a kind of cauliflower mimosa gratin, and serve it with buffalo burgers. When I went downstairs, however, I discovered that we had only one hamburger patty in the freezer. So the cauliflower mimosa gratin got expanded, and some ham and scallions tossed in, too. I think I was also partly inspired by Angry Chicken's crustless quiche. Just about anything can be turned into dinner if you bake it in a custard. So here's how I made Thursday's dinner:

Cauliflower Jumble

1 medium head cauliflower, broken into small florets and steamed until just tender
2 scallions, chopped
few ounces ham, diced
four hard-boiled eggs, diced (I used my egg slicer to cut them three ways, which was effective if slightly tricky)
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs
1 C heavy cream (I had some left over; half and half would also work great, or maybe even whole milk)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread half of cauliflower in 8x8 baking dish, then top with half of ham, half of scallions, half of hard-boiled eggs, and half of cheese. Repeat until all ingredients are nicely layered in pan. Whisk eggs and cream with a little salt and pepper (and maybe some fresh thyme leaves? it's good with everything) in a small bowl, then pour over cauliflower-ham layers. Bake until slightly puffed and starting to brown, about 45 minutes. Note: testing by jiggling (as with a quiche) does not work. If you take the casserole out, scoop out the first serving, and the hole you made fills with creamy liquid, put it back in the oven for more baking!

It was pretty tasty. I served it with a little buttered whole-wheat toast, and a simple fruit dish of canned pears and fresh sliced kiwis.