1.05.2012

Ham and Cheese Melt Poppyseed Sliders

UPDATE, November, 2016: This was the first ever food pin I put on my Pinterest, and I've adapted it to become our traditional Black Friday & day-after-Christmas lunch. It's similar enough to holiday food to feel festive, but far enough away to not make you O.D. on brown and orange casserole.


Ham and Cheese Melt Poppyseed Sliders

Over the holidays I found myself at the store, in need of a special--but easy-- lunch one day. I pulled up this pin and made it our destiny.

Best. Move. Ever.

The dressing/topping/sauce stuff that goes over the top is something I could (and did) lick off a plate. And my finger. And off of Judah when some dripped on his bare shoulder.

The original recipe that I worked from is fabulous, but I made a few changes over the course of making these THREE TIMES IN ONE WEEK (see full recipe below) to speed up the process and make them even more to our liking loving lusting:

PRO TIPS:

1-Only make however many you need at a time. These are best when fresh out of the oven, and some magic is lost when you re-heat them. Our family of 4 does great with a dozen for now, but may soon get grabby as the kids get bigger.

2- Use King's Hawaiian sweet rolls, in the orange bags. I have always scoffed at these, but they were on sale in the deli and I am SO glad I used them instead of plain white rolls. The sweetness was crucial and worked perfectly, and the way they are packaged made things easier.

3- Dont make each roll one at a time. Dont even pull apart the rolls. Take them out of the package still stuck together. Take a bread knife and saw horizontally through all of the rolls--parallel to the ground (I am awful at this and always end up going too low or too high, but it matters not, just try to keep the knife in the vertical center of the bread bunch).

Now you have two big bread slabs: Topsies and bottomsies, made up of 12 roll-parts each.



It is a millionty times easier to assemble the sandwiches as one huge instead of doing the same steps 12 tiny times over.

Spread mayo all over both halves: dealer's choice on the brand, but you'll understand if we are a brand-loyal family:

Putting up my Duke's

Then lay down a layer of about ham slices. No need to make tiny ones, just make sure every bread section is covered with a few layers. I used about a half  pound of sweet deli ham, folding and draping the meat like a subway commercial stylist. Then top evenly with swiss (again, I'm not usually a fan of swiss, but it works here.


Then you pull a William Wallace and UNITE THE CLANS HALVES to create one big 12-part sammie conglomerate.

Grab a big knife and cut along all the bread seams to make individual rolls. just push straight down at each seam to keep your ham and cheese from sliding (like they would if you sawed).

.


Pop them in a pan. A 9x9 pyrex was perfect for 12 sandwiches. You do have to get aggressive forcing them in, but it's okay, let them get cozy and melty and smushy. 


Whip up the topping/liquid manna sauce. The original recipe said you can halve the amount, but DON'T DO IT!  Make it all. This stuff is where it's at, yall, and you can't go wrong with the full amount.


We accidentally made the full amount of dressing indicated for 24 sandwiches and poured it over just 12. We were bordering on "too much of a good thing," but not actually occupying that space. It's just that good.


Fork/pour the manna sauce over the top of the sammies and then cover them with foil and pop them in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

It really is hard to wait. They smell SO good while they are cooking, but you NEED fully melty cheese. It is crucial.

As i am writing this, my stomach is rising up in rebellion against my brain for making it look at these pictures and relive these memories of deliciousness when i don't have more of the sliders at-hand.

Go eat 7 of these.



Ham and Cheese Sliders (makes 12 sliders)

Sammie ingredients:
-1 pack (12 rolls) king's hawaiian sweet rolls
-1/2 pound thin-sliced (good) deli honey ham
-4 thick slices Swiss cheese
-approx 1/3 C mayonnaise

Sauce Ingredients:

-1/2 Tablespoon poppy (seeds
-3/4 Tablespoon yellow mustard
-half a stick of butter, melted
-1 Tablespoon minced onion

-1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce


Preheat the oven to 375.

Take the entire pack of 12 rolls out of the packaging with them all still attached. run a serrated knife through the middle of the entire mass of rolls-- back and forth parallel to the floor.  Separate the top half and bottom half.

Spread mayo all over both halves.  Arrange ham on top of mayo so that the entire surface is covered.  Arrange cheese slices next.

Put the top half of the rolls on then run a long knife along the perforations to make 12 individual sandwiches.

Transfer them to a greased baking dish (9x9 size is a nice, cozy fit for 12 sammies) and set aside.


MANNA sauce:

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients. 

Fork out the solids evenly onto each roll and then pour liquid evenly over all of the sandwiches. Cover with foil and bake at 370 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is thoroughly melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes or until tops are slightly brown.

Serve them up and try not to drool all over yourself.

Good luck with that.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

16 comments:

  1. Dangit. Now I'm starving. Pinned! Thanks for the tips!

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  2. WHY would you flippin SCOFF at king's hawaiian sweet rolls ??? I thought I knew you.

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  3. LOVE Kings but usually I'm a slacker and just eat them all on their own like the fat kid I am lol... Can't wait to try this looks so NOM NOM NOM.

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  4. Mmm... Remembering these sandwiches and now needing to try this new sauce! Maybe I'll add them to my lady party on the 18th. Will that utter lure you to join us??

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  5. Utter? I'm not sure what that was supposed to say, but probably not utter.

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  6. These look delish! Goodness! I might just have to try them! Thanks for sharing your tips as well!

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  7. I snagged your pin awhile ago and now I'm so hungry I'm eating a bowl of noodles and waiting for a pan of tater-tots to come out of the oven. Thanks.

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  8. So, I'm 11 weeks pregnant and saw this post on Friday. I went to the store right after work to get all the necessary supplies and my mouth was drooling thinking about the pictures of these bad boys and how I was going to make my dreams come to fuition that night. And then I got home and my husband had already made hamburgers. Dang!! But you better believe my pregnant butt made these the next night and I ate FOUR of them. FOUR! They were soooooo good. Thanks for the recipe!

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  9. YUMMM. i HAVE to try these.

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  10. I never did see the recipe for the manna sauce. Could yoiu please put it you message. Thanks Charlie kuehn

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  11. I looked and looked for, u said the finale the best part the manna sauce like the previous comment and no recipe is this a joke? please repost it
    thanks patti

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  12. @patti, i linked to the original a few times in the post. but i see your frustration. haha sorry! i will post my version of the recipe here too.

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  13. Thanks so much I was actually googeling manna sauce as I write and found your response to ME. It looks so amazing and all over pinterest so I really wanted this! your great! Patti

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  14. THanks for the help just made thse for my guys they ARE GOING CRAZY!!PERFECT instructions mine looked just like yours! thanks for the recipe. Patti

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  15. Just made these last night!!! My husband ate 6... I had 4... oink. So freaking delish! My family actually calls these "Tatum Rolls"... so, not sure if they were invented by my (fat) ancestors. I halved the butter, which I didn't realize you had already halved! But that turned out fine. And my husband said it was like eating "homemade Krystal"... I hope you take that as the BEST compliment ever! :-)

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  16. these are in the oven right now, sans the mayo ... nate is saying, "the options are endless, we could layer peanut butter & banana & honey OR eggs, bacon and cheese" I think he likes this layered-roll thing :)

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