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pork roll sandwich
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NJ Activity Page

A meal called Jersey breakfast is very popular among New Jersey natives. It is made up of Taylor ham (also called pork roll), cheese and a fried egg with a runny yolk. Businessman John Taylor, from Trenton, developed Taylor ham (a slightly smoked sausage roll) in the 1800s. If you can’t find it in the stores in your state, you can substitute regular smoked ham.

Jersey Breakfast

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1 sandwich

Jersey Breakfast

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp vegetable oil (or butter)
  • 1 Kaiser or hard roll, sliced in half
  • 2 thin slices of Taylor ham (or any smoked ham)
  • 2 slices of American or cheddar cheese
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  1. Use a knife to carefully cut 4 notches into the sides of each ham slice. This will prevent the ham from curling during frying.
  2. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a medium-sized pan on medium heat.
  3. Fry the ham until lightly browned on both sides. Remove the ham.
  4. Toast both halves of the Kaiser roll facedown in the pan. Remove the Kaiser roll.
  5. Stack the ham slices and cheese on on half of the roll.
  6. Add the remaining oil to the pan. Fry the egg until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still slightly runny.* Remove from the heat and turn off the stove.
  7. Put the egg on top of the cheese and ham. Top with the other half of your Kaiser roll. Enjoy your Jersey breakfast!

Notes

* A true Jersey breakfast calls for a runny egg, but you can also cook the egg all the way through if you'd like.

https://www.littlepassports.com/blog/state/nj-activity-page/
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