That's A Fancy Way of Saying "Ham and Cheese Sandwich"

Sooooooooo, just in case you were wondering, the gas shutdown in our building continues (Day 27 and counting)—and because the location of the problem has still not been diagnosed, there is no end in sight.

We have been relying heavily on Kraft microwave macaroni and cheese, which lacks the bright orange artificial cheesy goodness of its stovetop cousin, but we have also accepted the challenge of creating meals on a daily basis without the use of a stove.

A favorite of the little three this week was “Ham, Manchego, and Fig Tartines”. Sure, we could have made plain old ham and cheese sandwiches, but we decided to rebrand with a Fancy Nancy version of the old stand-by. The fig jam and butter on the baguette alone was enough to pique my kids’ culinary interest and everyone not only licked their plates clean, but refrained from the all-too-frequent, “Ewwwwwwwwww, this is disgusssssting” protestations.

Parfaits (that’s French for “ice cream sundaes”) might be in order for dessert.

Ham, Manchego, and Fig Tartines

(Adapted from “Gourmet”, September 2008)

Ingredients:

-1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

-2 tbsp. fig preserves or jam

-1 (24-inch) baguette

-6 ounces thinly sliced serrano ham or prosciutto

-1/2 pound Manchego, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler

-Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

1. Stir together butter and fig preserves (I zapped them together in the microwave for a couple seconds to make the mixture softer and easier to combine).

2. Spread mixture on baguette; then make open-face sandwiches with ham and cheese.

3. Drizzle with oil and season with pepper. (Perfectly fed a family of two adults and three small children).

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ham-Manchego-and-Fig-Tartines-243612

Books

-Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser