Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwich

It was late, I was tired and I didn’t feel like cooking.  There I said it, contrary to popular belief, it’s not all about time spent in the kitchen, it’s all about me.     Just kidding.   Truth is though, I spent the day at the beach, in the sun, and I was tired but I wanted to eat dinner too.   So, I made one of my husbands favorite sandwiches for dinner.    You can also make a salad to go with the sandwich for a more balanced meal if you like.

And you can turn this into a Panini if you want to.   All I know is that it tastes good and is easy to make.   Let’s face it, we all need meals like this. Quick to put on the table, almost effortlessly.

Start by warming a loaf of your favorite french bread in the oven.

Then place some thinly sliced ham or leftover ham from a ham roast if you have it, into a fry pan you’ve sprayed with some non stick spray.   You want the pan on low, all you’re doing is heating up the ham a little, not frying it.  Add some sliced cheese on top, I like to use Cheddar,

Next take a pickle out of the fridge, slice it thinly.

Take the bread out of the oven, spread it with some mustard, make pretty designs if you like.   Then layer the warmed ham and cheese and the pickles onto the bread.

Cut into quarters and serve.   As you can see from this picture, I got a little skimpy on the ham on my end of the sandwich.

And it was good and fast.  I’ve also put this sandwich on my George Forman Grill and make a Panini out of it at this point,  now that’s good.

Rouladen

Some years ago my DH was listening to a radio show and the hosts were talking about this dish that they loved.  And I was asked to make it.   So I did, even though my brain kept telling me that the list of ingredients was weird.  And I really didn’t see how they could come together and taste good.  I mean really, dill pickles, bacon, mustard, flank steak?  I mean on a hamburger, ok, but inside?  I was wrong, big time wrong.   I made it and it was totally awesome.   Served with some lovely mashed potatoes, corn and well, all I can say is, we finished it off in short order.   That dish is now part of my repertoire, and gets made every so often when I can find a good flank steak on sale.    If you’ve been paying attention to beef prices lately, you know what I mean.  The prices, well, let me put it like this, we’re eating less beef these days.   Chicken is our new best friend.   Just kidding, beef and pork are in the running as well.  Sheesh!

The pickles and bacon are so good inside the meat.  Even if the meat fell apart on me.

To start with, you need a flank steak.   Get your pickles, bacon and mustard ready, you need them handy.

And some butchers twine if you have it or I just use a heavy-duty cotton thread, I cut a long piece and double it.   (trust me, you don’t want to be trying to cut the thread when you’re rolling the flank steak up). Unroll the steak if it’s rolled up or folded and flatten it out with your hands.

You did wash your hands first, right?   OK, and this does get messy, so if you need to put gloves on, go ahead, I’ll wait.    Ready?

Spread the mustard on the inside of the flank steak,

You could write your name with the mustard here, if it isn’t too long a name.

 

Pastry brushes are fun to play with, giggle.

then line it with the dill pickle slices,

I know I showed Vlasic pickles at first, but they were all rind, so I switched to Mt. Olive pickles.

you don’t need to go all the way to the edges with the pickles.   Then on top of the pickles, place some bacon slices,

it all depends on how big your flank steak is.   Then, and this is the fun part, you get to roll it up.    And you’ll want to roll it lengthwise, so that the long meat fibers can be cut when you slice it.

Notice the string under the steak on the left side?

 

 

See the toothpicks, it’s a good idea to take them out after the Rouladen is done.  They don’t taste good.

When you’ve wrestled the meat together tie it off.    You could also use some toothpicks to close it if you like, I’ve used both in the past.   And did again.    Toothpicks are not cheating, you want the insides of the flank steak to stay inside.

Then brown it a little on both sides before placing in an oven proof dish.

Do they make oblong fry pans?  Just wondering?

Deglaze your fry pan with some water, no point in wasting any of that delicious fond.   Add enough water to come half way up the roll.

My dish was a little big for this guy, (too small a fry pan, and too big a roasting pan, hmmm

Cover and let it cook for at least two hours in a 325 deg. oven.    (I let mine cook a little long yesterday, but it was still really good).   If you can, turn the flank steak roll at least twice during the cooking process, this keeps it from drying out.   A flank steak doesn’t have much fat, well it shouldn’t have much fat.   You do have the bacon on the inside, but that’s on the inside.  I take the cover off the last 20 minutes or so.   Just cause I like it browned a little more.

Please ignore the messy stove top, I did.

After it’s cooked, take out and let it rest while you make gravy.    Make a slurry of water and flour and add to the liquid in the pan.   Taste at this point, you’ll probably need to add some water, and if you add the water the potatoes cooked in, this helps to add just a little more texture and flavour to the sauce.    Taste it to make sure.   I find that the gravy is pretty darn intense, and have never added salt.
Slice the Rouladen, and serve with some lovely home made mashed potatoes and that great gravy.

See the pickles and bacon inside, they are so good.

Recipe:
Flank Steak
Mustard
Dill Pickles
Bacon
String and toothpicks to tie it up with.
Water and flour slurry to make gravy

Pepper if you like, but you don’t need salt.  The pickles and bacon have enough in them.

How simple is that, and you’ve got all the how to’s in pictures above.