Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. We’re going to make clarified butter for the hollandaise sauce. You can do this far in advance if you'd like to save time when you make this recipe.

Once the butter is melted there will be a foam that comes to the surface, skim it off. It can be helpful to have a large bowl of cold water to dip your skimmer in.

Continue to skim the foam off the surface. When the butter looks clear and golden but is no longer producing foam, then it's done. Carefully pour the clarified butter into a heat safe container. Don’t let any solids on the bottom pour into the container.

Wash and chop the ends off of the eggplant. Peel with a vegetable peeler.

Dice up the eggplant then place in a well-greased casserole dish.

Dice up the ham then layer it on top of the eggplant.

Crack the eggs open into a mixing bowl.

Season well with salt and pepper. Add the heavy whipping cream then whisk together.

Pour the eggs into the casserole dish. I like to stir the eggplant around a little to make sure that any cubes that are sticking up get coated with some egg.

Cover the casserole then bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. Uncover the casserole then bake an additional 20-30 minutes. You'll know it's done when the egg is completely cooked through.

While the casserole is baking you can make the hollandaise sauce. Make sure the clarified butter is still liquid, and warm but not too hot. This is especially important if you clarified butter in advance.

Heat up a separate skillet. Add the vinegar and crushed peppercorns. Cook down until the vinegar is almost completely evaporated. Add the water.

Transfer everything to a metal mixing bowl. You need a bowl that will fit over one of your sauce pans and act as a double boiler.

Add the 6 egg yolks to the metal mixing bowl and whisk together.

Place the bowl over a small saucepan of boiling water. Turn the heat down and whisk until the eggs thicken up.

Take the bowl off of the heat and slowly drizzle in the butter while whisking. You almost want to add it a drop at a time at first. Too quickly and the emulsion will break. Add lemon and salt to taste. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water to thin the consistency of the sauce. Be careful and only add it a tablespoon at a time.

Pour the sauce over the hot casserole. You will want to serve this hot and eat right away. If you want to save the casserole for additional meals then you will want to leave the sauce off of the top - it does not keep.

Garnish with fresh chives or green onion.