The invention of Eggs Benedict is credited to Charles Ranhofer, the legendary chef of Delmonico’s in New York. He published the The Epicurean in 1894, a cook book which included many of his famous dishes including the now ubiquitous breakfast dish.

Though there are countless variations of the original, Eggs Benedict is still served in nearly the identical fashion in restaurants across America over 130 years after it’s advent. That’s a very impressive run.

I did not intend to create a Great Lakes version while considering breakfast one recent morning, but it was a happy accident born of some leftover potato pancakes, well, more technically Irish boxty. Here is the recipe for Irish boxty over at Serious Eats. I like their description – “[I]magine if a pancake, a hash brown, a potato latke, and a rösti had an Irish baby.” I subbed in 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup milk for the buttermilk to get the same tang without having to buy buttermilk for one recipe.

Though we’ve featured potato pancakes here before, the recipe above combined the traditional German approach which is featured in many a Wisconsin Fish Fry, with an approach my mother-in-law uses, which is to make the pancakes from mash potatoes rather than shredded potatoes. In this preparation, the potato pancake subs in for the English muffin, fried crisp but still a somewhat fluffy texture due to the mash potato addition.

The traditional hollandaise is replaced by a German-inspired curry sauce. Why German inspired? Well, currywurst are hugely popular in Germany, though reportedly invented in 1949 after World War II due to limited food supplies. Most German immigrants to the United States came far earlier and curry never really made it over to the Great Lakes, but the sauce adds a fun German touch to this dish. To make the curry sauce, simply combine 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1 Tbs. of Penzey’s sweet curry powder. It creates the counterpoint in the dish that the lemon flavored hollandaise typically offers, while the mayonnaise brings the richness associated with the butter.

The major substitution may be a bit controversial. Any number of German sausages would have fit our German-inspired theme here, but rather than add a pan-fried meat to stand-in for the Canadian bacon typically featured in the Eggs Benedict, this recipe features a naturally fermented sauerkraut under the two over-easy eggs. My daughter introduced me to this idea when she described a morning sandwich featuring a farm-fermented kraut. We re-created the dish on a cabin weekend and I understood the appeal.

This may not work for everyone, but the sauerkraut adds texture to the dish, the tang of kraut brightens it, and works well with the curry sauce. It also triples down on our German-inspired theme.

To assemble this version of Great Lakes Eggs Benedict – Begin by frying the potato pancakes in 1 tablespoon of butter until crisped and warmed through. Prepare two over-easy eggs in another tablespoon of butter. While they cook, heat a 1/2 cup of kraut until just warmed through, and top the pancakes. Place a dollop of curry sauce over each pancake, then top with the eggs. Drizzle with additional curry sauce. Dress with pickled onions and parsley. Enjoy!