Ham — Cheese Breakfast Strudels — The Winter Pantry Paid Forward

December 2024 and the food journal was getting thick. The hardbound one Hannah gave me at the start of 2023 was nearly full. I'd been writing more densely this year—the workshop notes, the Stilwell family reunion documentation, the cured venison experiment with full process notes, the bean woman's cold summer salad recipe I'd transcribed as accurately as I could. It was becoming a document of the practice in a way that the spiral notebooks hadn't quite been, because by now I had a clearer sense of what I was trying to preserve.

Lily suggested I consider digitizing the journals. She said the university library had a program for preserving community-held food knowledge documents and that she thought the journals qualified. I said I'd think about it. I was protective of the journals in a way that was probably irrational—they weren't fragile, they were just mine, and the idea of them in a library reading room felt like the wrong kind of preservation. Lily said she understood but that physical things didn't always last the way we hoped.

I thought about Danny's notes. Still on the shelf. Still readable. He'd taken good care of them. But Lily was right that physical things were contingent.

Made a Christmas meal that leaned into the winter pantry: smoked ham from a neighbor who'd processed a hog in November, slow-cooked beans, cornbread, sweet potato pie, the grape dumplings Kai had started calling the purple soup along with River. It was a good meal, the kind that uses what you have and asks nothing extra from anyone. Kai said it was his favorite Christmas food. I said it had all the ingredients of a good year. He said he thought that was probably right.

That Christmas ham — the one from the neighbor who’d processed a hog in November — gave more than one meal. The next morning, with the journals stacked on the table and Kai still half-asleep, I wanted something that honored what was left in the pan without making it into an occasion. These Ham & Cheese Breakfast Strudels are exactly that: a quiet, grateful use of good smoked meat, the kind of recipe that fits a morning when you’re still sitting with the fullness of the day before.

Ham & Cheese Breakfast Strudels

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups smoked ham, diced
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (for brushing)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cook the filling. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4–5 minutes. Add diced smoked ham and cook 2 minutes more.
3. Scramble the eggs. Pour beaten eggs into the skillet with the ham mixture. Season with black pepper and garlic powder. Cook, stirring gently, until eggs are just set but still slightly soft. Remove from heat and fold in shredded cheddar. Let cool for 5 minutes.
4. Assemble the strudels. Lay one sheet of phyllo dough on a clean surface (keep remaining sheets covered with a damp towel). Brush lightly with melted butter. Place a second sheet directly on top and brush again. Spoon roughly 1/3 of the ham and egg filling along the short end of the phyllo, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold in the sides and roll up snugly like a burrito. Place seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat to make 3 strudels total.
5. Brush and bake. Brush the tops of the strudels with remaining melted butter. Score the tops lightly with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape. Bake for 22–25 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
6. Rest and serve. Let strudels rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired and serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 17g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 19g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 680mg