The Bayonne
Ingredients
- 2 baguettes
- dijon mustard
- 6 oz thinly sliced comté cheese
- 1/3 lb sliced cooked chicken breast I used leftovers from a rotisserie chicken
- 1/4 lb thinly sliced Bayonne ham aka jambon de Bayonne
- 1 cup baby arugula
- 10 cornichons, halved lengthwise
Instructions
- Slice the baguettes in half horizonally and then again vertically down the middle to create two sliced rolls.
- Spread the bread with mustard, top with cheese, argula, chicken and then the Bayonne ham. Stick halved cornichons in any spot they will fit.
- Serve.
You know once May hits, I’m back on my cold food and sandwich game. A couple of years ago I really wanted to master soup and I made a ton of soup. I think this might be the summer of the sandwich.
So when a PR rep contacted me to try out Bayonne ham I knew I had to turn it into a sandwich! When we were in Lille years ago we had the classic jambon-beurre but that ham reminded me more of sweet capicola than Bayonne ham which is much closer to Italian prosciutto or Spanish serrano. This makes sense because, like those hams, it is also a dry-cured ham. It comes from the port city of Bayonne in the southwest of France situated in both Basque Country and Gascony. It has a porky, sweet flavor and slightly chewy texture which made it perfect for topping a sandwich with robust ingredients like arugula, comté, cornichons, and Dijon. Your first bite is a hit of ham and it just pulls it all together. Love it! It took about a minute to make and travels well, just wrap up tightly so nothing escapes.
