Eggs Montana™: A Regional Take on Eggs Benedict
How this isn’t a TikTok sensation is beyond me.
Montana – Big Sky Country, The Treasure State, and the home of Eggs Montana™. The latter might not be the state’s “official” claim to fame, nor its “official” state dish, but it is a thing, and we have tried it.
If it’s good or bad is entirely subjective, but it sure is fascinating. Here, the English muffin is swapped with whole wheat bread, and the hollandaise with Cheese Whiz. The eggs don’t come poached, but instead scrambled, and while the ham is there, it should be pre-packaged from the grocery store.
An uncanny valley of Eggs Benedict if you so like.
Courtesy of a Montana native, Senior Intern Mari, we got our hands on a recipe for the dish. It’s simple and something you can run through in fifteen minutes if you are good at multitasking. A recipe optimized for efficiency.
Like any artisanal dish, Eggs Montana™ isn’t the product of strict steps. Instead, follow the outline – and the reference photos – below for a general baseline. You need butter, flour, milk, a 12-oz jar of Cheese Wiz, bread slices, sliced ham, and eggs.
In a pan, make a roux out of 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour. Mix in 4 cups of milk and 9 oz of Cheese Wiz (¾ of a jar). Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, toast the desired number of bread slices. This should be the bagged, pre-sliced kind. Butter the toast when done.
The ham should be Hormel-equivalent slices, toasted on both sides, while the eggs can be served any which way. The Washington Method (trademark pending) is to fry them into thin squares – see figure three below. Traditionalists will stick to a scramble.
Putting It All Together
The secret to proper Eggs Montana™ lies in the assembly. The first four steps are as one would expect: Layer the buttered toast with a slice or two of ham, eggs, and then the Cheese Whiz sauce:
You may notice there is a lot of sauce, and therein lies the secret fifth step: Lift up the bread ever so gently with a fork to let the sauce seep in from below. That is the differentiator – saucy bread.
What you may or may not think about Eggs Montana™ is a personal preference, but to quote the sage Intern Jon: “It’s a crowd pleaser!”