Yesterday afternoon, we were going to a little family get-together and I was supposed to bring something sandwichy. I baked a ham last week, and I love sandwiches on thick-sliced homemade bread, but even that gets a little old sometimes and I want something different. Different yet still sandwichy. I had this dim, distant, long-ago memory of something sandwichy that I used to make. I haven’t made it in a long time (don’t know why), but I was suddenly obsessed with making it.
I combed through my old cookbooks. Couldn’t find it. I searched the internet. Couldn’t find anything that sounded right. I can only guess that maybe I got the recipe from a magazine. Who knows. All I do know is that I couldn’t find anything that sounded just like what I was looking for. Not letting that stop me, I decided to make it up.
Mind you, I was bringing this dish to a get-together, and I had three hours before it was time to leave for the get-together WITH MY DISH, so if it came out wrong, I was gonna be screwed. But anyway! Why not! Life is a bold adventure! (I don’t recommend experimenting when you’re on your way to a party. It’s stressful.)
I believe, from my faint memories of this dish, that the meat used in the recipe was corned beef, but that’s not important. You could use shredded chicken, roast, turkey, chopped ham, ground beef, whatever you want or whatever is left over in your fridge. I’m sure that cream cheese was involved. And onion. I’m also sure that the bread in the recipe was not already baked. The filling was baked with the dough, in a French-loaf style. This is all I know for sure.
This is what I came up with–starting, of course, with Grandmother Bread. Okay, let’s go live dangerously with a made-on-the-fly recipe. YOU HAVE THREE HOURS TO MAKE THIS WORK. (No pressure.)
How to make a Party Sandwich Ring:
One-loaf standard Grandmother Bread recipe
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups flour
For the filling–
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons finely diced onion
2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
3 cups chopped ham
In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, sugar, and salt. Let sit five minutes. Stir in first two cups of flour with a heavy spoon. Add the remaining flour a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff to continue stirring easily. Add a little more flour and begin kneading. The amount of flour is approximate–your mileage may vary! Use as much flour as you need for a pliable dough. Continue adding flour and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled. (Usually, about an hour.) Prepare filling.
Using an electric mixer or a sturdy spoon, combine cream cheese and sour cream. Add onions, dill, and seasoned salt. Stir in chopped ham.
Uncover bowl; sprinkle in a little more flour and knead again briefly. Roll dough out on a well-floured surface into an approximately 12-inch by 9-inch rectangle.
Spread filling over dough.
Roll dough up from the long edge.
This is just like rolling dough up for cinnamon rolls, only you’re not going to slice the dough afterward.
Seal ends and edges.
Using a greased baking sheet, and flipping the dough over so the sealed edges are down, transfer the dough carefully–you can either place it straight out as a French-style loaf….OR! I was possessed with the notion of making a ring.
I placed the dough in a circle. This was not part of the dim, distant, long-ago memory I had of this recipe, but it sounded festive. Then, because I was getting worried about time, I put it in front of the wood stove to encourage it to hurry up and rise.
I didn’t really have as much rise time as I needed (considering my house was kinda cold). I turned the oven on to 350-degrees and, after about 30 minutes of rising, put the sandwich ring right in there to let it continue rising as the oven heated.
This sandwich ring takes longer to bake than a loaf of bread would take because of the filling. Once it got up to temperature (350-degrees), I baked it for about 40-45 minutes. (If you bake it in a straight loaf, it might not take as long.) The ring rose together into an almost complete round loaf as it baked, with all the ham and cream cheese goodness rolled up inside. Edit to add: Tips from the comments section–put a glass in the middle of the ring to retain the ring shape during rising and baking–or use a tube pan.
By the time it came out of the oven, I didn’t have time to do anything but transfer it to a pan to transport it, cross my fingers, and go. We got to the party and I said, “Stand back!” I cut into it like a scientist studying an unknown object unearthed from a swamp in Peru. Then I took pictures and said, “If this is good, I’m going to write a post about it. If it’s bad, this never happened.”
About an hour later, there was nothing but a crumb left on this platter.
If you’ve got a party coming up, try it! You can use any meat you like, whatever herbs and seasonings you prefer. You could also use vegetables and make it vegetarian, or use a combination of meat and vegetables. Just make sure it all adds up to no more than three cups. You can even make it in advance and keep it in the fridge. When ready to serve, slice in sandwich wedges. It’s delicious–everything I remembered and wanted back, and maybe even a little bit better. I’m pretty sure this is a new favorite around here. It’s a fabulously cool, self-contained sandwichy thing. Go put this in your oven!
Find all my Grandmother Bread recipes.
UPDATE: Here it is baked in a tube pan. That works great!
See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.
Cheryl says:
I’m full as a tick from dinner but this makes me want to get right up and bust out the yeast! Merry Christmas to you and yours, and thank you for giving me so very much reading pleasure this year. I’m going to get some sleep and take on the party sandwich in the morning 🙂
On December 26, 2010 at 1:40 am
bonita says:
Dunno why you keep so many recipes, it’s obvious you can invent recipes spontaneously. Yet another talent! Best wishes for a happy holiday season
On December 26, 2010 at 4:37 am
debi says:
I am so making this today! Going to use some leftover Turkey, and add a smear of cranberry sauce too! Thanks!
On December 26, 2010 at 8:12 am
susan says:
I had a recipe for tuna roll just like this. The only difference was the dough was made form bisquick. It was really fast and easy. Plus even the kids that didn’t like tuna eat it right up.
On December 26, 2010 at 8:27 am
Pete says:
If you want to keep the ring concept, could you put something like a small tumbler/juice glass/whatever in the middle to maintain that hole?
On December 26, 2010 at 8:30 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
That’s a great idea, Pete! I’ll have to try that next time.
On December 26, 2010 at 8:32 am
Pete says:
Uhmmmm, forgot to say – what a great idea! Duh… :smilerabbit:
On December 26, 2010 at 8:32 am
windspiritwhimsies says:
Wow! Looks very interesting. May have to try it for New Years Eve!And also, thanks Pete for suggesting the small tumbler/juice glass/whatever in the middle tip. Will use that as well. :hungry:
On December 26, 2010 at 8:59 am
Brenda says:
When I first saw the picture of the sandwich I thought it was your take on a Muffaletta Sandwich. This looks great Suzanne and I will be in the kitchen in just a few making this with leftover smoked turkey! Awesome, simply…
On December 26, 2010 at 9:52 am
Jessica says:
That is pretty darn cool! I have never seen a sandwich like that.
On December 26, 2010 at 10:25 am
lavenderblue says:
So much better (i.e.’easier’) than the tiny little biscuit-y “picnic turnovers’ that I always try to make from my left over ham. The kids don’t like them anyway. Nothing wrapped in dough around here. Although they do request little cocktail weenies wrapped in cresent rolls. And then they peel them before they eat them. (Sigh)
This looks hearty-er, they should like this better. Anyway, I will.
Good tip about the glass, Pete. I was thinking angel food cake pan. Once again: Your way = easier = better!l
On December 26, 2010 at 11:08 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
A tube pan is a good idea, too!
On December 26, 2010 at 11:15 am
SophannE says:
I wonder if that three cups of filling could be ruebenesque? What would adding some cheese do?
On December 26, 2010 at 11:41 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
SophannE, the recipe I remember was sort of Reuben sandwichy, with corned beef. I don’t see why you couldn’t use Swiss or another type of cheese. Maybe mix it into the cream cheese/sour cream mixture, though? Or not. I don’t remember exactly how the original recipe went but it did use cream cheese. I think that was to make it more like a spreadable filling,
On December 26, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Susan says:
You are amazing! Sounds wonderful.
On December 26, 2010 at 11:48 am
Shelly Messier says:
This has inspired me to make something similar. Thanks so much! :hungry:
On December 26, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Linda Segerson says:
Sounds like a winner to me! I may give this a try for New Years dinner at my brothers house. Thanks
On December 26, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Tammy says:
My mom used to make little crescent ball sandwiches. Used two crescents for each. Her filling was ham, cream cheese, bit of mayo, mustard and some hamburger dill relish – oh and Swiss Cheese. I LOVED the flavor the dill pickle, swiss and mustard gave them! Kinda wish I’d had ham yesterday!
On December 26, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Debbie in PA says:
looks good!..sort of like a calzone or stromboli.
Would be fun for a football get together!
On December 26, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Bev says:
Suzanne, I used finely chopped ham,spicy mustard,finely diced sun dried tomatoes, chopped green onions,and a couple of spoonfulls of hot pepper jelly,cream cheese, sour cream and some grated chedder, plus some lemon garlic salt. Its not ready for the oven yet, but here’s hoping it will be o.k.
We made a recipe similar to yours years ago using deviled ham and maybe dill pickle relish… Its been years ago, and I do believe the recipe was in a magazine.
On December 26, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Rainplace says:
Mine is cooking in the oven! Thank you for the wonderful idea!
On December 26, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Runningtrails - Sheryl says:
Great idea! I have to do this!
On December 27, 2010 at 7:39 am
Jo says:
This is a wonderful concept. I can imagine a dozen fillings already! Another winner!!
On December 27, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Sheila says:
Can this be frozen? I have ALOT of left over ham and was thinking of trying to make this for hubby to take to work with him , but with all the left over ham I have , I may make a couple of these and stick some in the freezer.
On December 27, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
Sheila, I would think it could be frozen just fine, but I haven’t tried that yet.
On December 27, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Ramona says:
That looks like it fit the bill!
On December 28, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Sheila says:
(Please forgive the one gazillionth and one question LOL) but can you use rapid rise yeast in the bread or does it need to be regular yeast? (please don’t hurt me LOL).
On December 29, 2010 at 12:03 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
Sheila, you can use rapid rise any time!
On December 29, 2010 at 7:54 am
Sheila says:
I’m making this now , for hubby to take to work with him tomorrow , though I had to improvise on it a bit and used minced onion cause thats all I had , dill weed and cubed ham (it was too small to chop , and I’m too much of a klutz sometimes to even attempt it LOL).
On December 29, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Sheila says:
Lets just say that even with the improvisions , the party sandwich ring came out WONDERFULLY , it only lasted about a day and a half , I gave my hubby 2 slices of it for dinner last night and he actually asked for MORE (I managed to get 3 slices for myself lol) he actually said he wouldn’t mind if I made it again sometime :).Thanks suzanne for sharing your wonderful recipes , Have a wonderful safe and happy new year and may god bless and keep you safe in the coming year :yes: .
On December 31, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Urbanite says:
Thanks for the recipe. I made my party loaf using shredded chicken. Since I didn’t have 3 cups of meat, I added a small amount of crisp, crumbled bacon and about 2 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese and omitted the salt and dill. I used a narrow tubular shaped baking pan to maintain the ring shape. It was a huge hit at the New Year’s Eve party I took it to!
On January 1, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Jennifer says:
Check out the Beth Hensberger book,Baking Bread: Old and New Traditions for great “sandwichy” things. The Pancetta, Onion, Gruyere is my favorite!
On January 17, 2011 at 11:03 am
gvsugrad says:
I just made your recipe for Grandmother Bread yesterday, I was so happy to fall upon your website. I used the bread recipe for Pepperoni Bread (basically like your Ring Sandwich above but instead stuffed with Deli size Pepperoni Slices and Mozzarella Cheese) because every version of pepperoni bread recipes online used store-bought frozen dough and I wanted to use homemade bread. I made a homemade pizza sauce that we used to dip the pizza bread slices. I see this bread recipe is so versatile, I cannot wait to try so many different recipes using this bread as the base.
On January 25, 2013 at 9:46 am