Country ham with red-eye gravy
Photo: beccapie · CC BY-SA 2.0

History

Kentucky farm smokehouses cured hams in salt through the winter long before refrigeration, and the fried-slice-plus-coffee-gravy breakfast followed wherever tobacco and horse farms fed their crews at dawn. Central Kentucky remains cure country: Critchfield Meats cuts country ham on Southland Drive, Crust folds it into charcuterie boards, and biscuits-and-ham breakfasts survive on menus across Lexington.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 15 minTotal 15 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 slices country ham, about 5mm thick
  • 120ml strong black coffee
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • Black pepper
  • Biscuits or toast to serve

Method

  1. Fry the ham slices in a dry cast-iron skillet over medium heat until browned at the edges, 3 minutes per side; set aside.
  2. Pour the coffee into the hot skillet, scraping up the browned cure stuck to the pan.
  3. Simmer hard for 2 minutes with the brown sugar and a heavy grind of pepper until slightly reduced.
  4. Pour the thin gravy over the ham and serve with split biscuits to mop the skillet.

Tip from the editors. Do not salt anything; a proper country ham carries all the salt the plate can take, and the coffee's bitterness is the balance.

Where to eat country ham with red-eye gravy

Country ham with red-eye gravy in Lexington

Critchfield Meats Family Market ★ 4.3

Critchfield Meats runs a family butcher counter on Southland Drive, cutting Kentucky beef, pork and country ham for Lexington home cooks since the 1960s.

TipOrder the custom grill boxes ahead of Keeneland tailgates; the counter staff will spec cuts to your cooker.

Directions

Crust ★ 4.1

$$ PizzeriaBeaumont

Crust fires artisan pizza and pasta in Beaumont Centre, restaurateur Kuni Toyoda's 2025 revival of the wood-oven room Lexington lost during the pandemic.

TipThe charcuterie with Kentucky country ham nods local before the Neapolitan-leaning pies arrive.

Directions

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