The picture is not correct for this recipe but I enjoy researching great old menus, recipes and cookbooks. This is an example of a classic old menu at the Brown Derby. (Yep, fresh lobster for $2.25, plus fried potatoes.)

Years ago, I came across some old Kentucky cookbooks. Some had recipes called Derby Eggs, Kentucky Derby Eggs and Eggs Derby. While they had some common elements, I eventually experimented enough to come up with a pretty darn good breakfast recipe that I think many people have forgotten, or just maybe it has been lost.

The original recipes were all so old that they all called for scalded milk and cream. This was done years ago before pasteurization to destroy any bacteria lingering in milk and cream. Do you have to scald? Not really, but I do.

I served this to family guests about 15 years ago and forgot about it until Uncle Larry asked me for it. He apparently liked it so much he wanted to have it one more time.

After moving back to Kentucky, I tried to find it and eventually came across the recipe I used, and decided to memorialize it here, so the family can’t lose it again.

Is it a great breakfast dish? Ham, eggs, cream, butter, mushrooms and cheese, you better believe it!

• 6 Eggs Hard Boiled
• ¾ Cup Country Ham
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
• 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
• Salt and Pepper to Taste
• 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 2 Tablespoons AP Flour
• 1 ½ Cups Scalded Whole Milk
• 1 ½ Cups “More” of Heavy Cream Scalded
• 6 Large Sliced Mushrooms
• ¼ Cup “More” Unsalted Butter
• ¼ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons “More” Melted Unsalted Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika

1. Cook hard boiled eggs. (4 minutes high pressure in the insta-pot makes perfect hard boiled eggs if you immediately place them in an ice bath after cooking.)
2. Halve eggs.
3. Separate yolks from whites.
4. Mix yolks with ham, cream, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Put the yolk mixture back into the whites. (Like making deviled eggs.)
6. Place them in a buttered casserole dish.
7. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pan.
8. Stir in the flour until smooth.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Add scalded milk and additional 1 1/2 Cups of heavy cream, stirring until smooth. (HOW TO SCALD?  Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium heat. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon or heatproof silicone spatula. You’re shooting for 180 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you’ll know you’ve reached the right temperature when tiny bubbles have formed on the sides of the pan and wisps of steam are coming off the surface. Remove from heat. Cool to the desired temperature and use as directed in your recipe.)
11. Add salt and pepper to taste.
12. Simmer 10 minutes.
13. Heat oven on bake to 450 degrees.
14. Sauté mushrooms in the additional ¼ cup butter.
15. Season with salt and pepper.
16. Add to the cream sauce.
17. Pour over eggs.
18. Drizzle the additional 2 Tablespoons of butter on top.
19. Then top with parmesan and paprika.
20. Insert casserole dish in oven.
21. Bake 10 minutes until golden.
22. Serve.