English Muffins with Griddled Peaches, Crispy Fried Country Ham, Provolone, & Whole-Grain Mustard

I recently came across a breakfast recipe that included peaches and ham together,
and am completely in love with the flavor combination—sometimes sweet & salty
flavors are perfect companions. This recipe includes griddled English muffins
served with warm peaches, in addition to some crispy ham that is sliced super thin
before being pan-fried. Provolone cheese, fresh Arugula, and whole-grain mustard
help bring everything together.

The following recipe makes 8 English muffin open-faced sandwiches, from 4
whole English muffins.

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English Muffins with Griddled Peaches, Crispy Fried Country Ham, Provolone, & Whole-Grain Mustard

I recently came across a breakfast recipe that included peaches and ham together,

and am completely in love with the flavor combination—sometimes sweet & salty

flavors are perfect companions. This recipe includes griddled English muffins

served with warm peaches, in addition to some crispy ham that is sliced super thin

before being pan-fried. Provolone cheese, fresh Arugula, and whole-grain mustard

help bring everything together.

The following recipe makes 8 English muffin open-faced sandwiches, from 4

whole English muffins.

Ingredients

• 4 whole English muffins (split in half)
• 2 Tbsp whole butter
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 oz country ham (very finely-sliced)
• 3 ripe peaches (pits removed, flesh cut into 8 slices per peach)
• 2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 8 thin slices of provolone cheese
• 1.5 cups fresh Arugula (washed and dried on paper towels)

Instructions 

• Cut your English muffins in half.
• *Almost everyone I know uses a fork to open their English muffins, to maximize the “nooks & crannies”. Instead, I like to cleanly cut mine in half with a sharp chef’s knife; this helps to maximize the degree of surface area contact between the cut surface of the buttered bread and the hot pan, giving me even Maillard reaction across the bread surface with a more consistent, perfectly griddled, golden-brown color. While this sounds like a trivial detail, try it out both ways and see if you notice a difference!
• Butter the cut side of each English muffin half and set aside until you are ready to assemble your open-faced breakfast sandwiches.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a shallow sauté pan and wait until the oil is nearly smoking.
• When the oil is very hot, fry the finely-sliced country ham until it crisps up.
• Remove the crispy country ham from the sauté pan, and allow it to drain on paper towels.
• *Leave the extra fat in the sauté pan. This fat will be used to griddle the fresh peaches.
• Cut the peaches in half along the poles, and remove the pit from each peach.
• Cut the fruit into 8 slices per peach.
• Griddle the peach slices quickly in the hot pan with the pork fat and vegetable oil that you used to fry the ham.
• Remove the griddled peaches from the pan and wipe the pan clean.
• Griddle the buttered English muffins that you cut earlier in the pan.
• Cook the English muffins on medium heat until the cut side is golden-brown in color.
• Remove the griddled English muffins from the heat, and add the whole-grain mustard.
• Drizzle the honey lightly over the English muffins.
• *You can also use a prepared honey mustard sauce here, instead of adding whole-grain mustard and honey separately, if you find that more convenient or appealing.
• Assemble your open-faced English muffins by adding the griddled peaches that you cooked earlier, a slice of provolone cheese, and top with the crispy fried ham.
• Finish with some fresh Arugula on top, and serve.

Notes

Years ago, I tried to make my own English muffins at home—the end result left me feeling disappointed in myself. I just didn’t get the nooks and crannies that I was expecting. I should try to make them again now that my baking game as improved, but still, buying English muffins from the store is way easier. I grew up on the Thomases’ brand, which I still enjoy to this day. Very consistent & delicious product.

I used to work at a resort in Tennessee that would quickly deep-fry their finely- sliced country ham, making it super crispy and changing the color considerably. I maybe prefer to unfried version in terms of taste, but I like the crispy texture that you can get from deep-frying or pan-frying. The ham we used in TN was made by Benton’s, which does great work. They make very smoky products.