Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches
These tasty smoked salmon tea sandwiches are jam-packed with flavor and come together in under 20 minutes for the perfect snack or appetizer.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces whipped cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh dill
- 10 thin slices of crustless brioche bread
- 4 ounces of thinly sliced smoked salmon, or 5 large slices
- ½ thinly sliced cucumbers
- 2 thinly sliced radishes
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium-size bowl mix together the cream cheese, green onions, dill, salt, and pepper until combined. Set aside at room temperature.
- Spread a thin layer of the herb cream cheese on one side of two slices of bread.
- Layer on one slice of the bread with herb cream cheese with sliced cucumbers.
- Next, place on a slice of smoked salmon making sure to cover the cucumbers.
- Layer on with sliced radishes.
- Place on the top slice of herb cream cheese bread.
- Slice into 4 smaller slices and serve. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.
Notes
Tea sandwiches are mostly about precision, which is what surprised me the first time I had to build a tray of them in a restaurant. The recipe is short, the technique is dense, and the slicing makes the difference between a sandwich that looks like a cocktail bite and one that looks like a kid's snack.
Mandoline the cucumber and radish, every time: Knife slices are uneven and inevitably end up too thick on one edge and paper-thin on the other, which means the layer falls apart when I cut the sandwich. A mandoline with a finger guard turns out 30 perfect slices in 90 seconds.
Build the sandwich on the bread, not on a plate: Stack the layers right on the bread slice on the cutting board so I can see the edges as I go. Build it on a plate and the layers slide around when I transfer the sandwich back to the board for cutting, and the slices end up off-center.
Press the lid down and let the sandwich rest 5 minutes before cutting: A 5-minute rest under a light press with a flat-bottomed plate or a small sheet tray sets the cream cheese against both slices and keeps the layers from sliding when the knife goes through. Skip the rest and the radishes pop out the side as soon as I cut.
Wipe the knife between every cut: Cream cheese on the blade pulls the next slice apart. A damp dish towel by the cutting board, one wipe between every cut, and every face of every sandwich comes out clean.
Make-Ahead: The herb cream cheese can be whipped up to 3 days ahead and held covered in the fridge. The cucumber and radish can be sliced the morning of, held in cold water, and patted dry before building. Assembled sandwiches are at their best within 4 hours of building, but they hold the morning into the afternoon if I wrap them tight.
How to Store: Cover the finished sandwiches with a damp paper towel and a tight sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days. The damp towel keeps the bread from drying out without making it soggy.
How to Reheat: This is a cold sandwich. There is no reheating.
How to Freeze: Do not freeze. The bread turns gummy, the cucumber and radish weep, and the cream cheese breaks on the thaw.
Nutrition
Calories: 60kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 3gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 130mgPotassium: 61mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 197IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 16mgIron: 0.2mg