The American Black Forest

By Sagegreen • September 26, 2010 • 0 Comments

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The American Black Forest — 1 of 4 Photo by Sagegreen

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Author Notes: This is a sandwich that finishes with a cabbage, beet, and apple slaw on top of a dressing over the meat on lightly buttered multigrain bread. Usually in Germany an open face "brot" is a typical evening meal. I have created an American version suitable for luncheon travel here. I have shown this with two different types of ham here. My favorite photo is the one of the first stage of layering this sandwich. I also like eating it this way as an open face sandwich. - Sagegreen

Serves 2

1/2 pound premium, authentic smoked if possible, Black Forest ham, sliced thinly
unsalted premium butter for bread slices
1/4 cup finely grated raw red cabbage
1/4 cup grated fresh cooked beet
1/4 cup grated crisp apple, jonagold or honey crisp
1 tablespoon finely minced red onion
10 gherkins, julienned
1 tablespoon finely grated celeriac
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh fennel
2 tablespoons chopped premium dried cranberries
pink himalayan salt to taste
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
cooked beet greens, chopped, optional
2 teaspoons champagne or pear vinegar
3 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Russian mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
4 slices of multigrain artisan bread, the kind you love
8-10 gherkins for side garnish

Toss the grated cabbage, beet, apple, onion, celeriac, fennel, cranberries, lemon juice and vinegar together with salt to taste. Let this sit for at least half an hour.
Combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, dill, and mustard together.
Evenly spread a thin layer of butter on each slice of bread for flavor and to keep the bread from getting soggy.
Add the sliced ham on top of the bottom slice for each sandwich. Spread the sour cream/mayo dressing generously on top of the ham.
Strain the cabbage topping from any liquid and spoon on top of the sour cream dressing. Add optional cooked chopped greens if desired. Add more sour cream/mayo dressing if desired on top of the cabbage mix and julienned gherkins. Add the top slice of buttered bread. Serve with gherkins.