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Ham Sandwiches
Chop fine one-half pound of ham, and season with one tablespoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of lemon juice and a little pepper and made mustard. Butter the bread on the loaf before cutting it; cut the slices thin, and spread the ham between them. Or the ham may be cut very thin, spread with a light coat of mustard and laid between thin slices of buttered bread.
A straightforward potted-ham filling that depends more on technique than on measurement. Two points carry the whole recipe: the ham must be chopped, not ground to paste, and the loaf is buttered before it is sliced.
- Buttering on the loafSpreading the cut face of the loaf with softened butter and only then slicing off the piece is the single instruction worth copying. Thin slices tear when buttered loose, and buttering in place lets you cut them thinner than you otherwise could.
- The ham"One-half pound of ham" means cooked ham off the bone, not raw gammon. Boiled or baked ham, well trimmed, roughly 8 oz, chopped by hand or pulsed briefly in a food processor. Run the machine too long and you get a smooth paste rather than a spreadable mince.
- Made mustard"Made" mustard is prepared mustard, mixed and ready, as opposed to dry mustard powder. Any smooth English or Dijon-style mustard suits; "a little" is about half a teaspoon for this quantity.
- Olive oil in a sandwichThe tablespoon of oil is doing the work mayonnaise does now, binding the chopped ham so it holds together between slices. It is worth using a mild oil rather than a peppery new-season one, which will dominate the ham.
- SaltNo salt is called for and none is needed. Cured ham brings plenty, and the lemon juice sharpens it further.
- YieldHalf a pound of filling makes about six full sandwiches, or roughly two dozen small trimmed ones cut into fingers or triangles for a tea tray.
- Making aheadThe chopped mixture keeps a day or two covered in the refrigerator, and the mustard and lemon have time to settle in. Assembled sandwiches do not keep; the oil and juice go into the bread within an hour or two.
Butterick, best known for dress patterns, published its cook book for much the same audience it sold sleeve patterns to: women running households without much staff, who needed a sandwich that could be turned out quickly for tea, a picnic hamper or a lunch pail. 'Chopped and seasoned' fillings of this kind were a common way to stretch a small amount of cold cooked meat. The two versions offered here mark the divide neatly: the chopped-and-bound filling for a plainer sandwich, and thin-carved ham with mustard for a more formal one. Deviled and potted meat pastes of this kind were common enough that commercial jarred versions were already on sale alongside them.