Recipe: “Strammer Max”

Today I am going to share a German recipe with you… something that my Mom sometimes would make as a quick lunch, but which also perfectly works as a hearty brunch item (especially here in the US, where hot sandwiches are much more common on the menu).

“Strammer Max”  means ‘hard’ or ‘tight’ Max  which is Saxon slang and means exactly what you probably think it means. I swear, I never made any sexual connection to this dish until I read the Wikipedia description last weekend. Am I, as a woman, even allowed to eat it?
I seriously thought that the name of this dish was a reference to ‘giving energy and strength’ to the person who eats it. Innocent me. (But I asked my Mom and she also had no clue where this phrase originally came from, so..).

Traditionally a “strammer Max” is a butter fried slice of bread with ham and (a) fried egg(s). I served this for brunch last weekend for the first time and J loved it.

It’s really filling and so quick and easy to make. You need:

• 1-2 thick slices of whole wheat or mixed bread (toast doesn’t really do it here)
• 2 slices of ham (I prefer the natural ham of the bone, but other ham or even prosciutto works too.)
• 1-2 eggs over easy (my favorite – but you can also do over-medium,  over-hard, or sunny side up).