My friends and I went to the Winterfresh Sno-Core tour of 2004. Trapt, Finger Eleven, Smile Empty Soul, and Strata were all set to play the infamous Pop’s night club located just outside of St. Louis. With the post-grunge movement of the mid-00’s in full swing, throngs of angry white suburbanites swarmed the venue. The line wrapped around the side of the building and was filled with kids who had a legitimate preference between Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. In case you were curious, they could take you out to their truck and show you their preference via a “Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) pissing on the logo of an undesirable make of vehicle” sticker firmly affixed to their back window. And they’d fight you about it. This was a show for the folks who perused the “metal” section at the local Best Buy. You get my point.
Being the end of March in St. Louis, it was rather chilly, and, having been a veteran concert-goer and amateur musician, I decided I’d leave my jacket in the car as I knew it would be a billion degrees once I got inside with all of the other mouth-breathers* in attendance. The evening air was brisk, and with no sun to warm us all, most kids resorted to awkwardly smoking and attempting to look like they weren’t cold.
The line moved quickly and the venue filled up nicely. The older kids made their way to the bar, buying multiple beers at a time, and sneaking them back to their underage friends. The crowd pushed towards the front of the stage, rife with anticipation for the show to begin. My feet were already hurting.
The best part of the night came when this beefy hayseed kid in front of us took his shirt off, revealing a full back tattoo of the sun from the Sublime album covers. He was at the edge of the pit, protecting his friends from rogue elbows and knees. A girl came crowd surfing towards the colliding mass of people, which must’ve been terrifying, like slowly being groped on your way to being eaten by the Sarlacc. Sun tattoo guy is her last line of defense. He could’ve pulled her down and protected her. Instead, he heaved her into the chaos with all of his might and I never saw her come out.
Later that song, people behind us were pushing to get into the pit themselves. I got bumped pretty hard and knocked the sun tattoo guy into the pit. He turned, looked at me, and shook his head, Hulk Hogan style. He stepped towards me and was immediately steamrolled by someone running around like a maniac. I got the fuck out of there.
Point being, there was a time in my life when my only knowledge of a strata was a mall metal band whose show I saw, at which I successfully avoided being murdered.
*I’d like to take a second here and explain that I, too, am a mouth breather. I was genuinely excited about seeing that concert, and owned the cd’s of more than one artist on the bill. I’m simply a man of the people.
Ingredients
6 oz of bacon (about 5-6 strips)
3 cups fresh corn (cut from 3 small-to-average cobs)
1 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (both white and green parts from a 4-ounce bundle)
half a loaf of stale sourdough bread, roughly 8 cups, not depressed (unlike me)
2 cups (6 ounces) coarsely grated sharp cheddar
1 cup (2 ounces) finely grated parmesan
9 eggs
2 3/4 cups milk (you can use whole milk… I don’t because nothing in my life is whole)
1 teaspoon table salt or 2 teaspoons of a coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
***Take note: this has to be refrigerated overnight! Are you looking for something you can make and eat within a couple hours? Don’t let this be one of life’s countless disappointments, check our recipes section for other breakfast ideas.***
- Cook bacon in a deep cast iron skillet low and slow until crispy. Transfer onto paper towels and pat dry to remove excess fat. Wipe excess bacon grease from skillet, leaving a thin coating (If you’re not using bacon, butter the pan. If you’re not using the skillet, butter a baking dish).
- Toss corn and scallions together in a medium bowl. Combine cheeses in another bowl. In a large bowl, gently whisk together eggs, milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Arrange half of the bread cubes in prepared skillet. The egg mixture will cause the bread to expand, so don’t worry if the cubes don’t cover the bottom. Add half of corn, then cheese mixture. Repeat layering with remaining bread, corn and cheese.
- Pour egg mixture evenly over strata. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 1 day.
- When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake strata, uncovered, until puffed, golden brown and cooked through, about 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Serves 6-8, or yourself, alone, every morning for at least a week.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen… by that I mean I added bacon to her recipe.