Ham and Cheese for Grown Ups

Ham and cheese is one of my favorite sandwiches, but this cute recipe for ham and cheese for grown ups is awesome! What’s fun about this simple recipe is you can do some of it ahead of time and then when you plan on having that little dinner party, assemble it and wow! You have a really nice presentation of some small bites that will whet the appetite… YUM!

What you’ll need:
(Printable recipe)
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 8 slices thin white bread *
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large or 2 small green apples
- 4 to 6 ounces aged Gouda
- 1 tablespoon Dijon or whole grain mustard, apple butter or chutney
- 1/2 bunch watercress
- 8 thin slices prosciutto
- Freshly cracked black pepper

*Not a white bread fan? Me either. Use rye or a dill flavored bread or a really great whole wheat. The key is to make the slices really thin.

What to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Bring the water, vinegar and brown sugar to a boil. Add the onions and remove the mixture from the heat. Cover, and set aside until the onions come to room temperature.

3. Trim the crusts off the bread and cut the bread into thirds, making 3 rectangular pieces. Then, lightly brush both sides of the bread pieces with the olive oil and lay them down on a baking sheet.

4. Toast the bread in the oven until just crisp and lightly browned, for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat source and cool.

To assemble:
1. Quarter, core, and very thinly slice the apple, (using a Mandoline slicer is terrific for this). Very thinly slice the cheese into triangles or shards that will fit nicely on the bread.

2. Place a dab or smear of mustard on the bread. Place a piece of apple, cheese and 1 or 2 sprigs of watercress on each piece of toasted bread. Wrap a small piece of prosciutto around each stack to make a neat package. Top with a little bit of the pickled onions, a drizzle of olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve at room temperature on a pretty platter.

What you can do ahead:
Toast the bread ahead, and thinly slice the apple, placing them in lemon water to prevent them from turning brown. If you need to assemble the sandwiches ahead, don’t add the watercress, and cover them with a very light moistened paper towel.

This easy appetizer recipe makes 24 ham and cheese for grown ups finger food. Enjoy!

*Photo at the beginning of this post is courtesy of the Food Network. Thanks!