Marcia, my mother-in-law, used to throw big parties at her east side apartment. We called it the Leisure Palace! She would spend days making delicious food - pasta pinwheels, filet of beef with sauce Choron, poached salmon, mini crab cakes, etc. One of our favorite appetizers were always made "just-in-time” - freshly baked palmiers with ham and cheese. They smell fantastic and are sweet and savory and cheesy delicious. They can be assembled and frozen in advance, then baked and served without much fuss when company arrives. It’s best to serve the palmiers right out of the oven.

Makes 30-40 palmiers, prep time 20 minutes, bake 15-20 minutes

2 sheets of frozen puff pastry dough (or for the more ambitious, fresh puff pastry dough)
1 cup of honey mustard
¾ lb very thinly sliced black forest ham
¾ lb of gruyere, grated
1 egg
2 tsp water

Thaw out both frozen sheets until they are ready to roll out. Put flour on large surface area and roll out dough with rolling pin, as evenly as possible, until dough is about the width and length of the surface of a baking sheet.

Spread the honey mustard evenly over the dough. Add slices of ham on top of the mustard, as seamlessly as possible. A little overlap of slices is fine. Evenly spread the shredded gruyere over the ham until entire surface is covered.

Roll dough from both sides lengthwise so that the two rolled sides join in the middle. Carefully pick-up the finished roll and wrap it in plastic wrap and place in freezer until you are ready to bake the appetizers.

When it’s time to cut and bake the palmiers, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and remove rolls from freezer and thaw for about 20 minutes at room temperature, or until they are thawed enough to cut. Cut off uneven ends and use a very sharp knife to cut ½ wide slices. Place slices on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. The puff pastry will expand while baking so leave an inch of space between slices. Prepare egg wash by whisking 2 tsp of water with a raw egg. Brush egg wash onto surface of palmiers and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until palmiers are puffed and golden. Remove from tray and serve while cheese is warm!