Poppy Sandwiches

My mom used to make these "ham and cheese party biscuits" (at least that's the name in my original mom's recipe cookbook) - for baby showers and stuff like that. And when I was little, I HATED that she ruined perfectly good sandwiches with some weird looking yellow sauce. Man, I missed out! :)

Because I think these are my favorite sandwiches ever....

My husband and I tried out this recipe in the early years pre-kids-eating-too and loved them. 

The kids didn't quite agree...probably that strange yellow sauce with little black dots inside.

BUT...when we called them "POPPY SANDWICHES", suddenly, EVERYONE loved them and now they're a favorite.

The idea is it's so small no one can see it and it gets cooked in when you melt the butter. 

Mix it up and add in the onion (usually I have to use a bigger cup but somehow the onion fit that day)

Cut kaiser rolls (or other rolls) in half.

Put slightly less than 1 T  of sauce on each (of 16) sandwich tops and replace top on bottom

 - that way both get coated.

*if you use a tray of little pull apart dinner rolls, you can slice the entire tray in half and spread it over the entire top/bottom rather than each individual one.

*if you get a great price on store bought rolls that don't come 16 medium or 8 large to a pack, just guess on the amount of sauce or re-calc to get a precise amount for each.

I have used shredded, sliced, and block mozzarella cut up - they all work.

This time it was a block cut up; tonight it's going to be sliced mozzarella.

If the ham is thinner and the cheese is shredded, I'll usually go 2 rounds of ham/cheese.

All stuffed and ready for the oven

I also cover them so they don't get too dark/crisp on top

It only takes about 15-20 minutes for the cheese to melt and the onion to soften, but longer won't hurt it).

It takes a while if I make the bread from scratch (which I almost always do - because I'm not paying nearly $2.50 for a 6 pack of Kaiser rolls!), but this week Aldi had an 8 pack of large Kaiser rolls for $1.79 - and with how busy we've been lately - it's worth 1.79 today for an easy tonight. :)

These are homemade bread, just FYI.

The recipe:

Poppy Sandwiches

• 1  grated onion
• 2  tsp. poppy seed
• 1  tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 3  tsp. mustard
• ½  cup butter/margarine 
• Kaiser Rolls or pull-apart dinner rolls (I usually make a batch of 16 small/medium so we can all have 2 and feel like we're getting seconds!) Here's the link if you want to make them yourself.
• 1  pkg. ham (12-16 oz - you need a slice or two per sandwich, depending on thickness)
• 1  pkg. mozzarella cheese (depends on the cheesiness you like - I start with 16 and use what I want that night...and save what's left for later.)

1. Chop, grate, process (or even puree) onion. (Original: grate.)

2. Mix onion, poppy seed, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and butter.  Heat (in microwave or stovetop) until butter is softened/melted and everything is mixed together.

3. Split rolls in half and spread butter/mustard mixture on inside (top) of rolls. Replace top as you go.

4. Layer ham and cheese in rolls and line sandwiches in pan (either original for pull-apart rolls or in 9x13 or a large baking tray).  

5. Put in oven on 350° for 15-20 minutes.  Serve warm.