[Award Winning] Morel & Leek Strata with Lemon Thyme Biscuits

Delicious, buttery homemade lemon-thyme biscuits covered in sauteed leeks and morels and surrounded by a rich, creamy morel-and-lemon-infused custard. The perfect dish for your upcoming spring brunch.

This recipe was the winner of the Marx Foods Blogger Challenge: Morel Edition!
Step by Step Instructions (with photos)

Morel & Leek Strata with Lemon Thyme Biscuits
serves 6 as brunch main course

1 recipe Lemon Thyme Buttermilk Biscuits - baked and cooled
1 oz dried morel mushrooms
1 cup heavy cream
3 T butter, divided
1 large leek, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 cup chicken (or vegetable) broth
4 large eggs
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (use the lemon you zested making the biscuits)
3 T fresh thyme, chopped, divided
1 cup milk
1 generous cup shredded Gruyere cheese (0.25 lb)
salt
pepper

First, place morels along with 1 cup heavy cream into a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until just boiling. Cover. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350ºF
Melt 2 T butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add sliced leeks and saute until transluscent (but not brown) -- between 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan; set aside and allow to cool.

When morels have reconstituted, remove mushrooms from cream. Set cream aside. Chop mushrooms roughly. Heat 1 T butter over medium-high heat in the same pan you used to saute the leeks. When butter has ceased frothing, add morel mushrooms and saute for 5-8 minutes -- or just until cooked and beginning to crisp. Set mushrooms aside to cool.

In heavy saucepan, bring broth to a boil. In a bowl, whisk together 3 eggs and lemon juice. Temper the eggs by whisking half of the broth into egg mixture. Then whisk egg mixture into remaining broth in saucepan. Cook egg mixture over moderately low heat, stirring until thickened. Do not let the mixture come to a boil!

In bowl, whisk together remaining egg, reserved heavy cream (from reconstituting morels), milk, remaining 1 T chopped thyme, and salt & pepper to taste.

Whisk hot lemon mixture into cold egg mixture until well combined.

Butter a 9"x13"x2" pan.
Slice 6 lemon-thyme biscuits lengthwise and arrange in the prepared pan. Top biscuits with leeks and morel mushrooms. Sprinkle with grated Gruyere. Pour custard slowly and evenly over biscuits in baking dish. Allow to rest for at least 1/2 hour (and up to 8 hours) in the refrigerator.

If you've refrigerated the strata for 8 hours, remove from refrigerator 1-2 hours before baking. Place in preheated 350ºF oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the custard is set and the strata is beginning to brown slightly around the edges.

Serve strata hot from the oven, warm, or at room temperature.

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