January 1: Scramblewiches

1 baguette (day-old is fine)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 pound deli-sliced ham, smoked turkey, pastrami, or corned beef
8 large eggs
   a splash of milk
1 teaspoon hot sauce
   salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 deli slices of Swiss cheese (halved lengthwise to fit bread), or 8 slices of Cheddar (2 squares per bread), or 6 slices of Provolone cheese (1 1/2 slices per bread, cut to fit)
   Chopped fresh chives or flat leaf parsley, to garnish
   Celery, carrot or other veggie sticks or a small tossed salad

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Crisp the bread in the low oven, split it lengthwise, and hollow it out. Cut each bread in half again, across, making 4 boats. Switch the broiler on.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and melt it. When the bubbles stop, add the meat and cook, separating the pieces, for 3 minutes, or until brown at the edges.

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Add to the meat and scramble, keeping the eggs a little soft. They will continue to cook in the oven.

Divide the eggs among the bread and cover with the cheese.

Melt the cheese under the broiler. Take it out as soon as the cheese softens and melts. Do not brown or allow the cheese to bubble; there are eggs under there! Garnish with the chopped chives or parsley and serve with the veggies.

4 SERVINGS

Just a little about this recipe: We made it for dinner tonight. I used a large Italian loaf, which worked just fine. I used ham and Provolone. That combination works well together. I am not a big fan of hot sauce, but the Tobasco was not overpowering and gave a bit of a new flavor to the eggs. I really liked the chives. Really, the only thing I changed about this recipe is that it needed some vegetables to round it out, so I added some celery sticks. This has become a New Years Day tradition in our family (added to our black eye peas tradition).