Jambon sec baguette: effortless but delicious!

It's been snowing cats and dogs here, and all transportation has pretty much come to a halt in France. Last week I went on what was supposed to be a 2 day, 1 night school trip to England. But the return trip back to France was a complete disaster. Calais had experienced a nasty snowstorm, two Eurotunnel shuttle trains got stuck in the tunnel, and at least 2,000 other people were forced to wait on the English coast until things cleared up (and this is not including the people who got stuck in England because of the Eurostar's problems).

I, 3 other professors, and 50 students had to wait in the bus a second night, from 8 pm until 2 am, until we could board the navette. As usual, I got hungry just waiting there, with no food and only a few British pounds. The passenger terminal was open, but food can get expensive, and all I wanted was a nice cheesy sandwich with some ham. Instead I had pasta salad, a Bounty bar, a Reese's bar, and about 10 mini Cadbury chocolate squares. Needless to say, I felt a bit sick after all that chocolate.

The parking lot waiting to board the Eurotunnel shuttle.

If all goes well this Thursday, Romain will be arriving at 11:30 am at Charles de Gaulle. However, given the total chaos France is in at the moment, I'm not sure if we'll make it to Paris to catch the TGV to Sète, because the RER is apparently broken or on strike...or something that would be easily cleared up in the States. SO. In anticipation of all the wonderful waiting to come, I decided I would prepare some jambon sandwiches to stave off the hunger (at least for a little while).

This sandwich is easy to prepare, doesn't take more than 5 minutes, and is pretty tasty. Sorry I don't have a photo of the one I made..I'll add it the next time I do this. Here goes!

Jambon sec baguette
(French dry ham baguette)

French dry ham is similar to Italian prosciutto. It's good on sandwiches, pizzas, toast, salad, or sprinkled over some pasta. Use your imagination! YUM. This is for 1 person.

Ingredients:
1 small (~ 6"), fresh baguette
1 small tomato
8-10 thin slices of jambon sec or prosicutto
1 slice of Emmental (Swiss) cheese
butter

Tools:
knife

Directions:

1. Cut the baguette in half, lengthwise.
   
2. Spread an even layer of butter on both sides of the baguette.
   
3. Slice the Emmental cheese in half, layer on one side of baguette.
4. Cut tomato into 1/4" slices, add on top of cheese.
   
5. Layer the jambon sec on top of the tomatoes, then cover with other half of the baguette.
   
6. EAT!

Make it fancy schmancy:
Once you've finished step 5, throw the baguette sandwich into the toaster oven or conventional oven for 4 minutes at 400 deg F (or 200 deg C).

Add some caramelized onions: in a small pan, heat up about 1 tablespoon of butter. When it begins to melt, add finely sliced onions (or shallots, whatever is onion-like) and let them simmer slowly in the butter on med-low heat until they turn a nice golden brown (about 15-20 minutes).

Use garlic aioli instead of butter.

Add a small salad to the side.

Et voilà!