Saturday, January 10, 2009

Ham and Cheese on Rye Bread Salad

Inspiration:
Food & Wine

Ingredients:
  • 4 slices of seeded rye bread, cut into 1-by- 1/2-inch batons
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 3 tablespoons grainy mustard
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup chopped celery (3 ribs)
  • 1 pound thickly sliced smoked ham, cut into 1-by- 1/2-inch batons
  • 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, coarsely shredded (2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup snipped chives

Instructions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the bread with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring once, until lightly toasted. Let cool.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the mustard with the mayonnaise and vinegar. Gradually whisk in the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and season with pepper. Add the celery, ham, cheese, chives and the rye bread croutons, toss well and serve.

Recipe Notes: In this fun take on the sandwich classic, Grace Parisi creates a delectable ham salad mixed with crunchy rye bread croutons and bits of Gruyère cheese, tossed in a mustardy dressing with celery and chives. She sometimes likes to wrap the bread salad in Bibb lettuce leaves for an inside-out sandwich.


My Notes: I loved the combination of flavors and textures, and it tasted different than anything I have had recently. Delicious. I used pumpernickel cocktail bread as I had some in the freezer. This tasted much better when the bread was still slightly warm from the oven; later, it was basically dry rye croutons.


Liz's Rating: 9.5/10
Tim's Rating: 9/10

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds great! You're making me hungry. :)

weezermonkey said...

This is not a salad! This is too good to be a salad!

What's Cookin Chicago said...

What a great twist on a sandwich! Looks delicious... then again your pictures are always so droolworthy :)