Caramelized Meat & Swiss Sambo

I was having a couple friends over for lunch. Truth be told, I have a hundred recipes to make for dinner and about two recipes to make for a nice, formal lunch. Plot twist, they were coming over with their almost 3-year-old, so I wanted a menu that everyone could eat. These fancy caramelized meat & Swiss sandwiches were such a crowd pleaser for young and old, I will definitely make these again.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. Hawaiian sweet rolls (You could also substitute a bigger, nicer bun)
• 1/2 lb. sliced deli ham
• 1/2 lb. sliced deli turkey
• 1/2 lb. sliced salami
• 6 slices Swiss cheese, halved
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion (I used yellow, not red, to tame down the flavor)
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
• 2 tsp. poppy seeds
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:

1. Arrange bottom halves of rolls in a greased 9×13-in. baking pan. (If you’re using bigger buns, you may need another pan.) Spread the cut side of the roll bottoms with butter and layer with ham, turkey, cheese and salami. (Really you can use any meat that you like. I left salami off of a few in case my little toddler friend didn’t like that meat.) Replace tops.
2. In a small skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender, 1-2 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour over rolls, ensuring that each roll is properly coated in the butter/mustard concoction. Refrigerate, covered, for a couple hours. (To note: I have skipped the refrigeration part and find that the bread gets a little soggy, but I think using a larger, heartier bun would help this.)
3. Preheat oven to 350. Bake, covered, 25 minutes. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown, 5-10 minutes longer. (Keep an eye on the time when baking uncovered. A couple of my tops got a little more brown that I would have liked.)

Like I mentioned, you can use any meat you like. You could add a little horseradish or Worcestershire sauce if you like that. Play around with it because it is a fun recipe. I might have used a little extra butter when I make these. You can also save the poppy seeds for the very end (before baking) but strategically place them on top of the rolls so they look pretty. Enjoy!