Ingredients

  • 1 cup cane sugar
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 3 cups filtered water
  • 2 medium cucumbers
  • 1/3 cup kosher salt
  • 4 thick slices crusty sourdough bread, cut in half
  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 10 ounces sliced smoked ham

Instructions

  1. Combine the sugar, vinegar and water in a glass mixing bowl and stir until sugar dissolves.
  2. Thinly slice cucumbers using slicing disk attachment on food processor or a mandolin. Place cucumbers in a strainer set over a large bowl and generously salt the slices. Stir with a wooden spoon until every piece of cucumber is coated in salt. This is quite a lot of salt but will help draw some moisture out of the cucumbers so they can absorb the pickling syrup later.
  3. After three or four minutes the cucumbers should be soft and will have released some liquid into the bowl below. Brush off any excess salt, add them to the bowl of pickling syrup, and let pickle while you assemble the sandwiches.
  4. Spread a bit of butter and Dijon mustard on each slice of bread; then top with the ham. Check to see that the pickles have absorbed some of the pickling syrup. Once they are nicely crunchy and balanced place a small handful of the quick pickles on top of the sandwiches and serve.