Hot Colby Ham Sandwiches

From: Quick Cooking – a magazine from the Spokane library

 

½ cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons mustard

1 tablespoon dried onion, minced

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

2-3 tablespoons sugar

15 slices Colby cheese

15 dinner rolls – about 3” in diameter – sliced

15 thin slices deli ham (about 1 pound)

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

In a small bowl, combine the butter, mustard, onion, poppy seeds and sugar. Place roll bottoms, cut side up, in an ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Top each with Colby cheese, ham and mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with half of the butter mixture. Replace roll tops. Drizzle with remaining butter mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Nancy’s Notes: Tammy sent this recipe via e-mail Feb. 23, 2005. I came across it this week and since I had ham slices in the frig I decided these sandwiches would pair nicely with my homemade split pea soup. I halved the recipe. One bite and we knew this was a winner. I would never have read this recipe and thought it would be so good. Steven seems to have a real knack for reading a recipe and translating that to taste. He rarely picks a bad one. I used sliced mozzarella – not as messy. It will be interesting to see how the leftovers warm up.

Grilled Apple Sandwich

From: Colorado Classique – Junior League of Denver

2 slices whole wheat bread

1 ½ teaspoons olive oil

½ Granny Smith apple, peeled and thinly sliced

1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese, or baby Brie cut into small cubes, rind

removed

Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Lightly brush 1 side of each slice of bread with olive oil. Place 1 slice of bread, olive oil-side down, into skillet. Arrange apple slices evenly over bread. Sprinkle with cheese and top with remaining slice of bread, olive oil-side up. Cook until bread is golden brown, then turn sandwich and cook 1 t- 2 minutes longer or until the other side is golden brown and the cheese has melted.

Nancy’s Notes: Made 11-1-09 for Sunday lunch – I used Jonagold apples and Dubliner cheese. Next time I would thinly slice the cheese instead of shredding, would be easier to arrange on the sandwich without having pieces of cheese melting on the hot skillet.

Best Focaccia Beef Sandwich

From: Gold’n Delicious – Junior League of Spokane, page 171

Marinade

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon

2 teaspoons dried parsley

Sandwich

1 pound deli-style roast beef

3 avocados, sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 loaf focaccia bread

olive oil

Combine marinade ingredients and place in a covered pan or ziplock bag. Add beef, avocados and onion. Refrigerate overnight.

When ready mustard to assemble sandwich, brush focaccia lightly with oil and bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Slice focaccia horizontally in half. Remove beef, avocados and onions from marinade and arrange on top of the bottom half of focaccia. Top with other half of focaccia. Slice into wedges and serve. Serves 6-8.

Adding monterey jack cheese to this sandwich is an enjoyable option.

Nancy’s Notes: Made for the family memorial service for Mother, Dec. 5, 2009. Michael McPheron really liked. I would like to find a thinner loaf of focaccia in the future. I was surprised that the avocado slices stayed green – be sure they get well coated with the marinade. We found the leftovers were good after zapping in the microwave.

Sweet Chicken Salad Sandwich

From: Colorado Classique – Junior League of Denver, page 74

4 cups chopped cooked chicken

3 stalks celery, c hopped

1 cup dried sweetened cranberries

½ cup pecans, toasted

1 ½ cups light mayonnaise

1/3 cup orange blossom or plain honey

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

8-10 small croissants

Combine chicken, celery, cranberries, and pecans in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey salt, and pepper. Combine dressing with chicken mixture. Serve on croissants or bread of choice.

Nancy’s Notes: – Made Nov. 9, 2009 – I liked the crunch from the nuts and celery and the sweetness from the cranberries and honey, makes a nice sandwich.

Sweet Potato Biscuits (with Ham, Mustard and Honey)

From: Bon Appetit, December 2009, page 102

Makes 25

1 ¾-pound red-skinned sweet potato (yam), peeled, cut into ½- inch cubes

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of cayenne pepper

8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted

½ cup chilled buttermilk

Dijon mustard

6 ounces thinly sliced country ham or Black Forest ham

Honey

Cook sweet potato in medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, cool and mash.

Butter bottom and sides of 9-inch cake pan with 1 ½ -inch-high sides.

Whisk flour and next 5 ingredients in large bowl. Add cubed butter to flour mixture, toss to coat and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles course meal. Whisk ¾ cup mashed sweet potatoes and buttermilk in medium bowl. Add to flour mixture, toss with fork. Gather mixture in bowl, kneading until dough comes together. Turn dough out onto floured work surface and pat into 1-inch-thick round. Using 1 ½ -inch round biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits, flouring cutter after each cut. Gather scraps; pat into 1-inch-thick round. Cut out additional biscuits (do not reuse scraps more than once).

Arrange biscuits side by side in prepared cake pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake until puffed and golden on top and tester inserted into center biscuit comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Turn biscuits out and gently pull them apart. Cut each biscuit in half crosswise.

Spread bottom half of each biscuit with mustard, then top each with sliced ham and second half of biscuit. Serve with honey.

Nancy’s Notes: Made Nov. 15, 2009 as a test to see if I wanted to use for the lunch following Evelyn’s memorial service. I think will be good with the ham but prefer sweet potato muffins for flavor and texture. My cutter is 2 1/2 –inches and I got 14 or 15 biscuits. I baked for 20 minutes and they were done.