Time sure flies hey? Plenty going on for us recently in and out of the Frankly household. We’ve been trying some great food and so culinary creativity, if ever there was any, has taken a bit of a back seat over the last few weeks.
This dish is unashamedly inspired (again) by a local gastropub and is another of those ‘on toast’ dishes. I offer no apologies for this, it’s probably one of the quickest and healthiest ways of introducing ‘crispy carbs’ and it’s delicious when griddled as I have here.
The gammon ham was actually from last Christmas and never got cooked, frozen and sat waiting patiently. In case I decided to take up curling or needed ammo for a trebuchet presumably. After defrosting I slow cooked this, initially in foil, for about four hours and it was meltingly good. Now, how to use up 2.5kg of smoked gammon….
So I came up with the following for a starters (but not a starter). I love this sort of thing – a bit rustic, quite simple and bags of flavour. Worth a try I’d say.
- 2 slices of good quality bread
- A little olive oil and a clove of garlic to rub
- Cut 2 thin and two thick slices of gammon ham.
- 2 tbsp crème fraiche
- 1 heaped tsp coarse/wholegrain mustard
- Black pepper
- 150-200g chestnut (or similar) mushrooms, quartered or halved depending on size
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 little oil and a knob of butter
- a handful of chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
- About 100g peas, frozen, unless you can get them really fresh
- Pea-shoots to finish
Prepare the ingredients first. Chop the thick gammon slices into dice sized pieces, slice the bread, quarter (or half) the mushrooms and finely chop the garlic and parsley.
In a small lidded pan, blanch the peas in a small lidded pan for a few minutes, turn off the heat and leave whilst you finish the rest.
Fry the gammon cubes in a little oil in a small skillet until coloured. Reduce the heat, stir in the creme fraiche and mustard and heat through. Season with pepper only. Transfer to a bowl, cover and keep warm in the oven. Put the two thin slices of gammon in there too to warm.
Begin to heat a griddle pan on at this point, as it’s got to be hot.
Wipe clean the skillet and heat the oil and butter for the mushrooms. Fry the mushrooms with the garlic for a few minutes until softened but not over-done. Season and stir in the parsley then set aside to keep warm.
Drain the peas and crush them using a masher to break them up, season with a little salt and butter if you like. Cover the pan with the lid and set aside in the oven, again, to keep warm.
Rub the bread with the garlic clove and brush with oil on both sides. Sear each side on the griddle until nice charred bar marks appear.
Layer the ingredients up as you prefer and top with the pea-shoots. Serve with some good piccalilli.
Food, Frankly 
Good sandwich!
Cheers Rosemary. ‘Hearty’ is an adjective I’d use for this too. Filling.
Hi Phil,
I really like this. You have made a very special ‘open sandwich’. The photography is lovely. The mushroom shot in particular draws one in. Good on ya!
Thanks Conor. Was actually pleased with the result of this one (as was my wife) so a good one to come back with after a brief hiatus. Glad you like the “moody mushrooms” pic too!
Fabulous, Phil! This looks delicious.
Very kind of you Misky, thanks!
This looks mouth-watering good, Phil. Give me a 2nd piece of bread and that’s my meal … well, at least until I see the main served. 🙂
Ha! True – the good people of Yorkshire in England would no doubt consider this a canapé! Thanks John, seemed appropriately rustic, now the leaves are starting to drop…
Excellent Phil I going to give this a go this weekend it looks mouthwatering
Cheers Kev, definitely worth a go. A little cheese wouldn’t hurt either….
That’s what I though too, what would you recommend? Emmental or something like cheddar may be?
Looks fab Phil… do you make your own piccallili too? .. thinking of having a go at that soon so if you have any tips 🙂
Thanks Jo. I didn’t make the piccalilli unfortunately but I’ll happily try a jar of yours when its ready 😉
Looks fantastic…and as someone said earlier, mouthwatering!
Thank you very much! Worth the effort I think.
Waw! This is a gourmet sandwich that I must make for sure, Phil! It looks lipsmacking delicious,…especially that last picture,….yummy! 🙂
You know it Sophie! It’s how all sandwiches should be, until our cholesterol gets too high of course 😉 ……
Hahahahahaha. 😊
It looks like good inspiration – there’s nothing wrong with that 😉
Absolutely! Cheers MD.
Again this tartine look absolutely delicious. I will try your recipe soon.
Tartine! I knew there must be a concise name for it out there other than ‘open sandwich’. Thanks Raphaelle – if you do try it, try griddling the bread as it made all the difference.
Haha! yep I would call it a Tartine. Thanks for the tip will let you now once I´ve tried your recipe.