Potato Chip Egg Casserole

There are many reasons why I love my friends but one of the top reasons is because they are the kind of people who don't judge me when I show up to a get-together with no makeup on, a stained shirt, and jeans. They makes me feel relaxed and comfortable all the time. Another big reason why I love my friends is because when we get together, it is a collaboration of good food and good drinks.

Jenny is our mastermind organizer. She makes sure each element of a good party is intact: drinks, food, eating utensils. Jason is our music expert. He can put together a playlist to ensure that no matter your music taste, you will hear a tune and say "OMG, I love this song." Marshall makes sure that we have some sort of cocktail or punch. Kelley supplies us with smoked meats or bacon deliciousness. Jenny, Joy, and others bring delicious food. Simply put, everyone contributes. We even have people who prefer to clean up because they don't like cooking. It is always awesome.

Last week, we had a pajama party brunch because who doesn't want to be in their 30s, eat bacon, drink booze, and watch cartoons in their pajamas with their friends? We had a bunch of champagne leftover from the New Years Eve party. Fourteen bottles total were brought to this brunch and by the time Marshall and I left, there were only four bottles left. We did good. In addition to that, our hostess Heather made us the delicious Bloody Mary that you can see in the picture above. Her husband Brian fried up 3 pounds of bacon and made sure we were all caffinated with Intelligentsia French Pressed coffee.

My job was to bring an egg casserole. Joy has a great recipe where she puts onion rolls in a pan, add an egg mixture, drops spoonfuls of cream cheese, and then tops it all off with diced up green onions. I love this casserole. It was really after brunch at the Tabard Inn where I had scrambled eggs with cream cheese and chives that I realized how delicious that combo was. While searching through Epicurious for egg casserole/fritatta ideas, I found one that included potato chips. It mentioned how Tortilla d' Espano has fried potoates in it and questioned how far off potato chips be. I agreed. Here is what I made:

Potato Chip Egg Casserole

Ingredients:

8 whole eggs
2 egg whites (I took out two yolks because in my head, it made this healthier. Weak, I know. You can take out more yolks and add more egg whites if you want to lighten up the dish)
1 8oz bag of potato chips (I used Kettle Brand, Reduced Fat, Sea Salt)
2/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup of chopped green onions (green part only)
2/3 8oz container of cream cheese
salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Spread half of the bag of chips into a 9x13 baking pan evenly. Drop spoonfuls of the cream cheese on top of the chips. Top off with more chips. Whisk eggs, egg whites, dash of salt, dash of pepper, and milk together. Pour over chips. Sprinkle the green onions on top. Bake at 350F for 35 mins. Check if the casserole is done by inserting a toothpick in the middle. It should come out clean. If it does not, put it back in for another 5 mins. Repeat until the toothpick comes out clean.

The egg casserole came out delicious. The entire brunch was a hit. There was french toast casserole, sourdough pancakes with a berry compote, 3lbs of crispy bacon, biscuits, sausage, and gravy, fruit salad, French Press coffee, bloody marys, mimosas, bellinis, and a lot of laughing. (Have you ever seen the ShakeWeight instruction video? We did.)

If I were to change one thing about this recipe, I would add more eggs. The eggs came halfway up the pan and once it all baked, the exposed potato chips came out golden brown which made the casserole look awesome. It tasted great but for me but if this is going to be an egg casserole, it should taste more eggy. I would have liked more eggs. So next time, I would add 15 eggs (13 eggs and 2 egg whites? J/k.)