Ham, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich with Hollandaise
When my oldest son started school this year, I had the idea to try making him breakfast sandwiches before he left for the day. It was a lot of fun figuring out how to make different versions of an easy, on-the-go meal, and even some that were freezer friendly. This recipe, sadly does not work that well for the freezer! However, it is probably my favorite breakfast sandwich version that we have done thus far.
In this recipe, I share how to make each of the components, which is a bit lengthy. If you really want to make this from scratch, it is a bit much to do all in one morning. I would highly suggest making the buns ahead of time, at the very least, though the hollandaise can be made the day before as well. You can always adjust this recipe to feature store bought buns or hollandaise, but this is a nice recipe if you want to try your hand at learning some more intermediate cooking skills!
This hollandaise recipe is Julia Child’s from her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, though the instructions are written in my own words. You can’t really come up with your own hollandaise recipe, as they are all about the same. I learned how to make this sauce sometime last year, and it is incredible. Once you try it, it is impossible to eat a store-bought hollandaise ever again. I notice every time I order out at a restaurant that they didn’t make it, and it has ruined me. Ha!
ingredients & recipe:
brioche buns:
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp granulated sugar or honey
1/4 cup whole milk
3 tbsp salted butter
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg
3-4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg + 1 tbsp water, for egg wash
1 tbsp everything bagel seasoning
Hollandaise sauce:
1 cup salted butter
2 tbsp COLD salted butter
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cold water
pinch of kosher salt
breakfast sandwich:
4 oz sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained
6 slices thick-cut smoked ham, hot
8 oz gruyere cheese, sliced thinly
6 large eggs, cooked sunny side up
1-2 cups baby arugula
salt and pepper, to taste
directions:
Begin by making the brioche buns (these can be made the day ahead and stored for later). In the bowl of a large standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, whisk together the water, yeast, and sugar. Allow the yeast to bloom, about 5 minutes, or until it grows foamy and bubbly.
In a small saucepan, warm the milk, butter, and salt until the milk just begins to simmer and the butter begins melting. Turn off from heat and let the butter melt in the warm milk, stirring occasionally. Add the butter mixture into the yeast mixture and stir. Whisk in the egg.
Begin adding the flour to the liquid, gradually, about 1 cup at a time until a dough forms. Continue kneading in flour until the dough no longer clings to the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic. It should still be a bit sticky and soft.
Grease a large bowl. Knead the dough into a ball and place it in the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Gently deflate the dough. With a pastry scraper or knife, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Stretch and fold each piece into a small ball. Place the shaped dough on a greased baking sheet, about 3-4 inches apart. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until nearly doubled in size, about 30-40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Beat the egg and water together to make an egg wash. Brush the tops of the puffed buns with the egg wash and sprinkle the top of each with everything bagel seasoning. Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through the middle. They will be light and soft! Set the buns aside.
Next, make the hollandaise sauce. Melt 1 cup (2 sticks) of the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Once fully melted, set the pan aside to cool a bit.
Meanwhile, add the egg yolks to a medium saucepan. Whisk them for about 1-2 minutes or until they look thick, deeply yellow, and almost like a syrup. Add the lemon juice, water, and salt and whisk until incorporated. Place 1 tbsp of the cold butter in the pan with the egg yolks.
Place the saucepan with the egg yolks over very low heat. Whisk the eggs vigorously over the heat until they begin to thicken. If the heat is too high, they may begin to coddle. If this happens, you can dunk them into a pan of cold water and try again. It will take about 2-3 minutes for the eggs to thicken, and when they are done they will leave a cream on the whisk and you will be able to see the bottom of the pan with trace marks from the whisk.
Immediately remove the pan from heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp of cold butter. Whisk this in until it has melted into the hot yolks, as this will cool them down and stop them from continuing to cook.
Once the cold butter is incorporated, begin adding the melted butter into the egg yolks. This should be done in a steady stream or by the quarter teaspoonful, whisk all the while. Your arm will be very tired! Whisk in as much butter as you can, but leave the milky white residue behind. The entire process takes about 10 minutes. Serve the hollandaise warm. If it begins to cool, you can place it in a pan of hot water and stir it occasionally.
Now, build the sandwich. Toast the buns over a skillet in a bit of butter, if you prefer. Dividing all of the sandwich ingredients between the six buns, layer them equally with a spread of sun dried tomatoes, ham, gruyere, sunny side up egg, a dollop of hollandaise, and baby arugula. Place the top of the bun of top and serve hot!
The beauty of this sandwich is that it does not have to be served for just breakfast! For these photographs, we ended up eating them for supper and it was great. I love the gooey, almost cheese-like runny egg and salty, buttery hollandaise. We used smoked ham that we made from our hogs last autumn and arugula from the garden. I think that this sandwich could be played upon quite a bit, with bacon or a sausage patty, or swap out the brioche for focaccia. The possibilities are endless, so have fun with it!
xoxo Kayla
