Posted by philocrates 5/12/02 11:51:12 am

Tea Sandwiches

Use day-old, thinly-sliced, square white loaves. Cut off the crusts and butter the bread sparingly, using soft butter so the slices don't break. Add a modest amount of filling, and no more; two tablespoons per slice of any of the fillings below is sufficient. Spread the filling, add any garnish, and place another slice on top. Using a long, sharp knife, make an X-cut to get four smaller triangular sandwiches. Add a couple of long toothpicks to help stabilize while you are cutting. Place the cut sandwiches on a serving platter, and cover with a damp napkin. Refrigerate for at least four hours.

FILLINGS: Mix up a small batch of three of four of your favorite sandwich fillings. You can use a curried egg salad (the usual mayo and eggs but add 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder,) tuna salad with lots of celery, deviled ham with some extra mayo, scrimp salad, etc. Try to pick out flavors that will taste well together. Some popular combos are:

Anchovy butter and Greek olives: combine 1 ounce of anchovy fillets, 2 tablespoons of butter, and a pinch of black pepper in a small food-processor. Spread very thinly on the bread, and add a layer of finely-sliced pitted Greek olives on top.

Boiled chicken and ham: Thinly sliced, with mustard.

Avocado slices: with Dijon mustard dressing and chives.

Tomato slices with basil.

And, of coursecucumber.

When making such sandwiches keep in mind that the bread should be sliced thinly and served without crusts. The sandwich should be large enough for only two bites and, even though many people serve sandwiches cut in the shape of stars, crescents and other odd shapes, it is far more elegant for sandwiches to be cut in thin rectangular, triangular, round or square shapes. As to the choice of bread, white bread, challah, light rye bread, Danish pumpernickel and dark Russian bread make the best tea sandwiches. As to fillings for sandwiches, the choices are virtually infinite. Consider some of the following:

White meat of chicken or turkey with mayonnaise or butter
White meat of chicken with chutney butter
Chopped chicken with chopped almonds
Chopped chicken with sweet pickles
Baked ham with chutney on pumpernickel
Chopped ham with English mustard, fresh horseradish and sweet cream
Chopped ham with chopped black olives and grated cheese
Thinly sliced tongue with French mustard and chopped chives
Thin slices of roast beef with English mustard or horse- radish and sweet cream
Thin slices of roast lamb with garlic butter
Thin slices of roast veal with anchovy butter
Sliced salami with herbed mayonnaise
Finely chopped shrimp with seasoned mayonnaise
Finely shredded crab meat with herbed or garlic butter
Finely shredded crab meat mixed with chopped chives and mayonnaise
Smoked salmon and butter
Smoked salmon with horseradish
Thinly sliced onion and cucumber
Chopped green olives and mayonnaise
Chopped green olives and nuts mixed with cream cheese.
Chopped green olives and chopped eggs with mayonnaise.
Thinly sliced avocado with garlic butter
Cream cheese and chives with cucumber
Watercress with butter or butter and mayonnaise
High quality Roquefort, Bleu Cheese or Gruyere with butter
Thinly sliced cheddar cheese and cucumber.
Smoked salmon with cream cheese
Thinly sliced cucumbers and mushrooms with butter
Thinly sliced hard boiled smoked turkey eggs with butter or mayonnaise
Thinly sliced avocado with mustard flavored mayonnaise
Roquefort cheese that has been blended with butter and cream cheese
Anchovy fillets that have been chopped very finely and blended with
    cream cheese and chopped pickled onion.
Red caviar (salmon eggs) mixed together with lemon juice and cream cheese
Anchovy filets with chopped hard boiled egg
Chopped green olives and nuts blended with cream cheese
Thin slices of fresh salmon and cucumber
Finely chopped green pepper bound with mayonnaise
Cream cheese* blended with fresh horse-radish
Cream cheese* and chives with cucumber
Cream cheese* that has been blended with chopped chives, French mustard
    and black pepper
Cream cheese* that has been blended with Indian chutney and butter
Cream cheese* blended with chopped chives, French mustard, salt and pistachio nuts

* Note: Cream cheese used in tea sandwiches should have a minimum fat content of 16%.

Start with dense high quality breads like pumpernickel, rye, whole wheat sliced thinly. Assemble your tea sandwiches and then store in the refrigerator. Arrange on a serving platter when ready to eat, use flowers or cut herbs to garnish.

Cranberry fingers Mix some Dijon mustard in whole cranberry sauce, flavor to taste. spread on the bread on then add a small slice of smoked turkey, add top layer of bread.

Salmon and Dill Spread buttered bread with softened cream cheese which has dried dill added to it. Lay a very thin piece of salmon or lox on the cream cheese. Garnish with a fresh tiny sprig of dill.

Lavender Egg Salad chop 4 hard boiled eggs, mix in 1 ounce of mayonnaise and 1 ounce of plain yogurt. Mix in 1 teaspoon of curry powder and 1 tablespoon dried lavender buds. Spread on your bread and top with a green olive.

Celery-Nut: Whip a soft block of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of milk; add 1/2 cup of celery and 1/2 chopped walnuts and spread on your whole wheat bread.

Pineapple Cream: Thin a block of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of milk, and then add 1 cup of finely chopped pineapple and spread on Boston Brown Bread.

Apricot Ham Finger Sandwich: Mix 3 parts of cream cheese with 1 part of apricot preserves. Spread on your bread and then top with thinly sliced ham. Garnish with a 1/4 sliver of dried apricot. You can also use cherry preserves in place of the apricot

Spring Radish: Butter slices of pumpernickel bread and add thinly sliced radishes, a slice of bread and then some more radishes.

Cucumber Sandwiches: Mix seasoned salt into your butter then butter your bread of choice. Add thinly sliced cucumbers that have been dried by paper towels. Top with small sprig of parsley.

And last but not least ideas about the food which work well not just with the English teas but with our shower parties:

The food served at teas should be easy to eat and require neither forks nor knives. Tea sandwiches, canapes and foods that may be picked up and eaten with toothpicks are ideal for tea parties as are cookies, petits fours and miniature pastries such as eclairs and cream puffs. Instead of serving food on large platters, it is wise to use small or medium serving plates because they are easier to keep filled and looking neat.