Grilled Pesto Parmesan Ham and Smoked Provolone with Apple Butter on Fresh-baked Bread

You know how bread smells when you get to the end of the loaf and you know that it is just about to go bad? That overly sweet, cloying smell? The smell that comes right before the bloom of mold?

That’s what our bread smelled like when I opened it yesterday to make myself a sandwich. Yuck. Straight to the garbage for that loaf.

So this morning when I got up, I decided that it would be a good day to make some bread, just for us. I got busy and got the ingredients for egg bread in the bread machine first thing. (Call me a cheater if you want, but I can’t live without my bread machine!)

I did all the usual things to turn out a couple of loaves of beautiful bread . . .

olive oil to grease the bread pans . . .

This is about how much olive oil it takes to grease one pan.

shaping the loaves ( I really prefer to bake the loaves myself instead of in the machine. They are just prettier that way.) . . .

Be sure to coat the dough by turning it through the olive oil when you put it in the pan.

letting the dough rise in a slightly warmed oven . . .

I let the oven preheat to 150-200 while I am shaping the loaves.

After about 40 minutes, the loaves are ready to bake!

. . . until it was nicely doubled.

Two beautiful loaves cooling

And finally, perfection! Two beautiful loaves of homemade bread just in time for lunch!

It got interesting, though, when I decided to make a sandwich out of my fresh-baked bread.

I raided the fridge for some meat and cheese. I had a few pieces of  Pesto Parmesan Ham and some smoked provolone that I thought would make an excellent grilled cheese.

Then I saw the jar of apple butter. (Also homemade, but not by me.  It is the last jar of the last batch my mom made.) Hmmm…apples and ham are good together, so why not try them together on the sandwich?

I’m sure this isn’t the first time someone has combined these things, but it’s the first time it occurred to me. So I did it. Definitely a good decision! The hint of sweetness from the apple butter was divine combined with the savory of the pesto on the ham. And of course, the melty-goodness of the cheese was pretty awesome, too!

Grilled pesto parmesan ham with smoked provolone and apple butter on fresh-baked bread

Lesson for the day: don’t be afraid to put things together that you never thought of before. Chances are if it sounds good, it will be good!