Baked Ham Sandwiches

I'm about to introduce you to something that will change life as you know it.  Your previous life with typical, mundane ham sandwiches is over.  Thanks to Sarah Foster's Southern Kitchen, (my favorite cookbook now that I indeed have a southern kitchen)...we now have 'Ham and Cheese Rolls' available to us.  They contain all the ingredients that I believe are great 100% of the time: ham ... cheese ... mustard ... butter ... worcestershire. They also involve 'marinating' and 'baking'.....sold?

Luckily, this discovery coincided with planning our annual St. Patrick's Day party. I was looking for a perfect party food that was super easy to make in large quantities, super delicious, and looked good with these balloons that my husband ordered a week in advance.

So I made the ham sandwiches. And let me tell you, they were a party hit. I made a few modifications to Sarah's recipe....I took out the garlic (I don't know why you would add garlic to all these other wonderful ingredients)...I took out the grated onion (same reason)...I added brown sugar (because it seemed natural, and WOW)...and I bought Hawaiian rolls from the store rather than made my own (I'm an underachiever).

Recipe (makes 12 small sandwiches)

• 1 stick butter
• 1 T Dijon Mustard
• 1 T Worcestershire
• 2 T Brown Sugar
• 1/2 lb smoked ham, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb Swiss or Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced
• 12 Hawaiian rolls (or other slider bun of choice)

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the dijon, worcestershire, and brown sugar. Bring to a low boil, remove from heat, and set aside. 

In a baking dish (or aluminum foil pan for ease of cleanup, which is what I did)....assemble the Hawaiian rolls with the ham and cheese.

Pour the sauce over the sandwiches, cover and MARINATE for several hours or overnight. 

The next day, or however long you were able to wait, place the sandwiches in a 350 degree oven and bake, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover the sandwiches and bake for another 10 minutes.

I made 48 sandwiches for the party. There were 6 left, and we ate the rest of them over the course of the next few days. I even caught myself lying to the neighbor on Sunday when he asked if we had any of those ham sandwiches left. Sorry, I said, we ate the last of them last night. Not my proudest moment.