Preheat oven to 375F. The first step is to make clarified butter for the hollandaise sauce. You can do this far in advance, if you'd like to save time when making this recipe. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat.

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 close by 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, 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. If you will be making the hollandaise sauce at the same time, keep warm until needed.

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 (for casserole) 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 might be sticking together get coated with some egg.

Cover the casserole, then bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the casserole and 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 is warm, but not too hot. This is especially important if you prepared the clarified butter in advance.

Start a small saucepan of water on to boil. Heat a separate skillet over medium heat. Add the vinegar and crushed peppercorns. Cook down until the vinegar is almost completely evaporated. Carefully add the water.

Transfer everything from the skillet to a metal mixing bowl. You need a bowl that will fit over one of your saucepans and act as a double boiler.

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

Place the bowl over the 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 in the beginning. Too quickly and the emulsion will break. Add lemon to taste. If needed, add up to 2-3 tablespoons of water to thin the consistency of the sauce, being careful to only add it a tablespoon at a time.

Pour the sauce over the hot casserole. You will want to serve this hot and eat it right away. If you want to save the casserole for additional meals, you will want to leave the sauce off of the top as it does not keep well. You can serve it with the individual servings.

Garnish with chopped fresh chives or green onion.