Ham Archives - Poor Man's Gourmet Kitchen

Breakfast Combo Bar

The Best Breakfast Combo Bar

If I’ve never expressed my love for breakfast foods, particularly hot breakfast foods, I can sum it up in a word… GIMMIE! This Breakfast Combo Bar is no exception. What is it? It’s a crispy fried scrambled egg, ham and cheese patty and, if you’ve never tried one before, believe me when I say, they’re amazing. These can’t be purchased by the average consumer, by the way, and you don’t usually find this item on a restaurant menu so, you’re going to have to learn how to make these and try them your self.

Where does it come from

I learned about the Breakfast Combo bars over 25 years, when I attended trade school, and I fell absolutely in love with them. I’ve never seen them served any where else but I have since learned that they are a bulk product, made by Hormel, and they’re only sold to distributors and restaurant supply companies like Sysco; which also explains why my school cafeteria was serving them up in the mornings.

Eggs are the main ingredient in this recipe, mixed with minced ham and cheese so, be sure you’re stalked up to make these because it takes 2 eggs to make 1 Breakfast Bar.

What Kind of Ham and Cheese

The ingredients in the Hormel recipe says that the cheese in these Breakfast Combo Bars is pasteurized and American so, I chose to go with Velveeta Cheese. You can use what ever you want but, I’m telling you, the Velveeta, in my opinion, is spot on the way I remember these bars tasting. So, it’s something to consider if you prefer real cheese.

Cooked ham and cheese with scrambled eggs.

The Ham I use is just a classic hickory smoked ham that I add to the eggs, chopped, after they’ve cooked. I melt down the Velveeta cheese in a smaller pan with a few tablespoons of whipping cream to make it creamy and easy to poor over the eggs and ham mixture. Then, I mix everything together, remove from the heat and form patties on a cookie sheet.

Eggs, ham and cheese mix formed into patties on a cookie sheet for the freezer.

It’s good to use a non-stick cookie sheet or some non-stick spray that will keep the eggs, ham and cheese mix from sticking, once you’ve made patties. I use an egg pan mold approximately 3″ inches in diameter. The mold is only about one 1/2″ inch so, it makes it easy to press them flat too. The patties must be frozen before they’re battered for frying or they will not sustain their shape. 1 hour, minimum, in the freezer is required to obtain a frozen patty. In fact, I usually keep half of them in the freezer while I’m frying the first batch because they soften quickly and fall apart in the egg wash.

2 canisters of both Seasoned Panko and Bread Crumbs.

Breading and Batter

Once the egg, ham and cheese patties are fully frozen, they can be put through a 3 step breading. First the flour, then the egg wash and the seasoned Panko and bread crumb mix. Each patty only needs to go through these steps once. There’s no need for a second coating, trust me. Now all you need is a half inch of oil, in a hot pan, for frying. Fry at 350° Fahrenheit for approximately 2 minutes, or until golden brown, on each side. Then remove from the heat and let them rest on a rack or paper towels, to remove the grease, and serve.

Breakfast Combo Bar video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet

Breakfast Combo Bar Ingredients: Makes 6

12 eggs, scrambled and pre-cooked with Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Ham, minced
1/3 cup Velveeta Cheese, melted
2 tbsp Whipping Cream or Milk

1/3 cup flour
2 eggs
3 tbsp water
1/3 cup Bread Crumbs, seasoned
1/2 cup Panko, seasoned

Oil for Frying

Watch and follow all of the instructions in the Breakfast Combo Bar video tutorial.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

The Best Chicken Cordon Bleu

For me, the traditional way of making a Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of those frustrating recipes that is good but never quite good enough. That being said, I believe I’ve pushed the envelope hard enough to come up with this recipe. We’ve got white and dark meat, seasoned through and through, with the ham and Swiss cheese filling that everyone loves and a nice, crispy, seasoned bread crumb crust.

2 sliced boneless breasts and 8 sliced chicken thighs.

The Ultimate Chicken Flavor

When it comes to poultry, some folks are partial to either white or dark meat. We all know the health benefits of eating the white(breast meat) but I can’t deny the flavor you get from the dark(thigh meat). Therefore, to me, it only makes sense to combine the two and the only way I know how to do that is to use ground chicken. That being said, your options now are to either buy it that way, all ground up, or grind it yourself, like I do in the video tutorial. This gives me more control over the ratio amounts and I can be sure that my ground chicken really actually has both white and dark meat in it. Then I season the meat mix with a few ingredients that take the flavor to the next level.

Raw Chicken Cordon Bleu patties without breading.

Make them ahead of Time

Now that you’ve got the ground chicken mix seasoned, you can smash a few scoops meat into patties. Fill them, the way I show you in the video tutorial, with ham and cheese, then press and mold them into shape. You can also stuff them with broccoli or Spinach, if you prefer, instead of the ham. One of the secrets here, to make things easier, is to throw them in the freezer for 45 minutes. This will allow the meat to firm up so they don’t fall apart when you’re trying to egg wash and bread them. Something I didn’t mention in the video, however, is that you can freeze them again after they’re breaded and save them for a rainy day. You can even cook them the same way and use the time and temps I recommend below.

I’ve also included a Honey Mustard Sauce in the recipe that is out of this world, delicious. So, I highly recommend you try it with your Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Chicken Cordon Bleu video Tutorial from Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Ingredients:

Chicken Mix
2 Chicken Breasts, ground
8 Chicken Thighs, ground
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika

Filling and Breading
1 lbs Ham, deli sliced
1 lbs Swiss Cheese

4 eggs
1/2 cup Flour, all purpose\
1/4 cup Hot Sauce, Louisiana style or Tobasco
1 1/2 cups Bread Crumbs, seasoned

Sauce
1 tbsp butter
1 Garlic Clove, chopped
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp Honey
1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
1 tbsp chive
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bake 375° Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Be sure to watch the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Chicken Cordon Bleu, with gravy, from scratch.

Killer Hash Browns

The Best Hash Browns

You may or may not be familiar with the local Mom & Pop diner’s in your home town that serve their specialty menu Items. My town is no different and one of the traditions at my local diner is to serve what is called, “Killer Hash Browns” or “Killers”. Technically, the Killer’s is a glorified gravy packed with 3 different pork products, cooked sausage links, ham and bacon, plus a mix of sauteed onions, bell peppers and cheese. The Killers don’t just grace the top of hash browns, however. You can order them over the top of an omelette, biscuits or, my personal favorite, a chicken fried steak. In this recipe I’m going to show you how to do it for about $10 bucks and it should easily feed 2 to 4 people.

Killer’s mix with cooked sausage, ham, bacon, onions and bell peppers.

What I use to make Killer Hash Browns

There isn’t just one way to go about making these Killer Hash Browns. You can change it up any way that you see fit. I’m going to include all of the links for each of the recipes here too. For example, you’re going to need either a frozen bag of Hash Browns or Fresh Potatoes to grade your own. You’re also going to need to make a Breakfast Gravy. You can cheat and use a powdered pack, like I do in the video tutorial, or you can make your own favorite recipe if you have one.

As I mentioned before, you’re going to need sausage, ham and bacon. A pound of each will be plenty. Also, one chopped Onion and Bell Pepper but feel free to add or supplement any ingredient. Mushrooms would be a nice addition. The rest of the basic ingredients will be listed below.

Killer Hash Browns video tutorial by Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen.

Killer Hash Browns Ingredients:

1 bag frozen Hash Browns
1 lb Sausage, links
1 lb Bacon, sliced
1 lb Ham, diced
1 Onion, diced
1 Bell Pepper
1 tbsp Olive Oil
3 tbsp Peanut Oil
1 tbsp Butter
2 cups Breakfast or Country Gravy
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Cook sausage for 1 hour, flipping half way through and bacon for 30 minutes. Be sure to watch and follow the instructions in the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make these Killer Hash Browns.