From Shefford Cheese Recipes (1934)
I found this while researching Snappy Cheese for A Cheese Fairy and desperately needed to try it. How could I possibly pass up “Ham Meringue”?
1 Snappy Cheese
6 slices bread
1 1/2 cups ham
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 teaspoons butter
Paprika
Spread bread with Snappy Cheese. Place in a flat baking dish. Cover with minced Kingan’s Boiled ham and milk. Seperate eggs carfully, keeping the yolks whole. Beat whites stiff and cover ham with them. Make a little depression above center of each slice. Put in 1/2 teaspoon butter. Drop yolk carefully in hollow. Sprinkle with paprika. Cook in moderate [350º] oven till white is a delicate brown and yolk is set. Serve at once
I can’t actually digest pork, so I went to three stores looking for turkey ham, before sending my pork-eating partner to the deli counter at the fancy market for the most ham-like turkey he could find. I was dubious and opted to make 1/3 recipe (2 slices worth).
The bread has an almost French toast texture, soft but cooked crisp and brown on the bottom. I bet this would work well with stale bread. The “ham” tastes smoky, slightly sweet, and salty (Partner says it tastes surprisingly ham-like). The flavor penetrates the bread well. The egg white is a bit bland, but it adds an interesting texture. I would have preferred a runny yolk and I think the egg white needs a slight pinch of salt, but overall this was quite tasty.
