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Ham Toast
Mix with one tablespoon of finely chopped ham the beaten yolk of an egg and a little milk. Heat over the fire without boiling. Spread on thin buttered toast.
A single-portion sickroom dish that is essentially a savory custard scrambled soft and spread on toast. The whole thing hinges on gentle heat.
- Do not let it boilThe egg yolk is the only thickener, and it curdles into grains at around 180F. Stir constantly in a small heavy pan over low heat, or use a bowl set over simmering water, and pull it off the moment it coats the back of the spoon.
- But do cook the egg throughSince this was fed to the sick, hold the mixture at 160-165F for a moment before spreading rather than serving it barely warm. 160F is the usual figure for egg to count as cooked; with only a little milk to dilute the yolk the margin before it grains is narrow, so watch it closely.
- "A little milk"Genuinely unmeasured in the original. Start with 2 tablespoons to one yolk and one tablespoon of ham; more milk gives a looser, more spoonable paste, less gives something closer to a thick spread.
- The hamThe original says only 'finely chopped'; it does not specify the cut or how the ham was cooked. Modern sliced deli ham works but is wetter and saltier, so taste before adding any salt at all.
- YieldOne yolk and a tablespoon of ham covers one small slice of toast. This is one invalid's portion; scale by the yolk.
- Toast and textureThe recipe specifies thin buttered toast, dressed at the last minute; nothing is said about crusts. Expect the toast to soften somewhat under the warm mixture.
- SeasoningNothing is specified beyond the ham itself. A grating of nutmeg or a few grains of cayenne would not be out of place with something this eggy and bland.
"Invalid cookery" was a standard department in American and British household manuals well before 1870 and on into the 1920s, when most illness was nursed at home and the cook, not a hospital kitchen, decided what a convalescent ate. The governing ideas were that food should be light, finely divided, easy to swallow and offered in very small quantities, often said to be because a large portion discouraged a weak appetite; beef tea, gruels, milk toast, junket and egg preparations fill these chapters. Ham toast belongs to the slightly more encouraging end of the range, given once the patient was thought ready for something with flavor and a little salt. Good Housekeeping began as a magazine in 1885, and its cookbooks carried this sickroom material well into the twentieth century, long after professional nursing had begun to take the subject over.