Skip to main content
Main

Broiled Ham and Eggs

A dish of broiled ham slices topped with boiled eggs, seasoned with butter and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Ham and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Broiled Ham and Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Cut the ham into thin slices and remove the rind.

  2. Wash the ham slices in cold water.

Cook the ham

  1. Place the ham slices on a grill over hot coals.

  2. Turn the ham frequently until it is broiled.

  3. Transfer the broiled ham to a warmed platter.

  4. Butter the ham slices.

  5. Pepper the ham slices.

Poach and serve the eggs

  1. Boil water in a pan over the fire.

  2. Break the eggs into the boiling water as needed.

  3. Once the egg whites are cooked, carefully remove each egg with a spoon.

  4. Place each egg on a slice of ham.

  5. Sprinkle pepper on the eggs.

  6. Serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Thin slices of ham
Forms the base of the dish and browns and firms over the hot coals.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the cooked ham slices.
Eggs
Set in the boiling water to form soft, tender whites and runny yolks on top of the ham.

The step that matters

Once the egg whites are cooked, carefully remove each egg with a spoon.. Egg whites set as the protein unfolds and bonds with heat, but the yolk stays runny if removed early. Lifting too soon leaves the white fragile and undercooked, while waiting too long overcooks the yolk and makes the eggs rubbery.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More ham and eggs recipes

Fried 19Broiled 6 See all 48 →

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesYorkshire PuddingYorkshire Pudding264 recipes