Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish with a little of the greasing fat. Have a rimmed baking sheet ready underneath to catch drips.
- Brown the measured ground beef in a roomy pan over medium heat, breaking it into crumbles. Season with the measured salt and optional pepper. Work in batches if crowded, then transfer to a mixing bowl.
- While the beef browns, fry the prepared uncooked bacon over medium heat in a second pan until mostly cooked. Remove and reserve for topping, leaving its fat in the pan.
- Saute the sliced or quartered mushrooms in the bacon fat over medium-low heat until soft and no longer releasing water, about 15 minutes. Stir and turn them without scorching. Mix with the browned beef.
- Whisk the softened, fully drained yogurt cheese with the eggs, adding one egg at a time and working through lumps until smooth. Mix in the optional crushed garlic.
- Combine the beef and mushrooms with the parsley and egg-and-cheese mixture. Transfer to the greased dish and gently press the surface even. Top with the measured grated cheddar and chopped or crumbled reserved bacon.
- Place the casserole on its baking sheet on the lowest oven rack. Bake about 35 minutes, until hot and bubbling with melted cheddar, and check that the center reaches 165°F. Allow longer if needed.
- Rest the hot casserole on a trivet for 20 minutes before scooping the measured number of servings.
Notes
Eight servings. Thirty minutes preparation includes the skillet work, followed by about thirty-five minutes baking and a twenty-minute rest: eighty-five minutes total. Culturing and draining the yogurt cheese, curing the bacon and any additional time needed for the center to reach 165°F are outside that plan.
Weigh twelve ounces of finished, thick, fully drained cheese from homemade yogurt fermented at least twenty-four hours. This is not twelve ounces of undrained yogurt or ordinary commercial cream cheese.
Use the prepared salt-only bacon while still uncooked, then fry it during the skillet steps. Keep its fat for the mushrooms and its pieces for the topping. The bacon is made with pork and natural salt only.
Full GAPS after all ingredients and both dairy foods are introduced. Optional pepper and garlic may be omitted. This preparation contains eggs, dairy and plants.
At 2× use two baking dishes; keep the same oven temperature and check each center. Ingredient amounts double, while the baking time does not automatically double. Allow each dish its twenty-minute rest.
Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow containers at 40°F or below, within two hours, or one hour above 90°F. Use within three to four days or freeze up to three months. Thaw refrigerated; reheat to 165°F.