Hi Everyone,
Cucumber sandwiches are often described as dainty and delicate, rarely are they thought of in the realm of eye candy, unless they are prepared as open-face sandwiches. Traditionally layered between two slices of bread they are easily passed over but present them open and they immediately become showstoppers.
You doubt me? Make them and watch how quickly they disappear. Make them and everyone will come up asking you how you did it. Make them and long after your tea party people will still be talking about how attractive your cucumber sandwiches were. Hopefully, they’ll save a few comments for the taste as well.
The origin of cucumber sandwiches lies with the British. They (the sandwiches) are considered dainty because the bread is sliced so thinly that daylight should be able to pass through. The cucumbers are either peeled or left with the skin but they would be scored so that they can look pretty and decorative. It’s the same way we would take the tines of a fork and run them along the length of a cucumber. The slices of bread are lightly buttered right to the edge, this is to ensure that the no moisture from the cucumbers makes the bread soggy or wet. A light sprinkling of salt and a squirt of lemon juice is used to season the cucumbers. The other buttered slice is placed on top to form the sandwich, the crusts are neatly and cleanly cut away, and then cut into four small triangles. They are prepped just before serving.
Don’t worry, you’re not serving the Queen so you can make your own version the way you like it. Use whatever kind of bread you like. Cut the slices thick or thin and use cream cheese, mayonnaise, butter or any kind of spread you like. It’s your cucumber sandwich.
I made mine with homemade bread. I wanted a hearty sandwich so I cut thick slices of bread. To give my cream cheese some texture and oomph, I added thinly sliced green onions/shallots. Seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you don’t have sea salt, use a light sprinkling of table salt.
The attractiveness of this sandwich lies in the layering of the cucumber slices. Ready to give it a try?
Cucumber Sandwiches
Yield: 24 (large) 48 (small)
INGREDIENTS
1 x 8 oz. packet of regular cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives/green onions or shallots (optional)
2 or 3 large cucumbers (if you can get seedless, better, but not necessary)
12 thick slices of sandwich loaf bread (or regular sandwich loaf)
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley (optional for garnish)
EQUIPMENT
Vegetable peeler
Sharp knife
DIRECTIONS
Mix together the cream cheese and chives/green onions, shallots, if using, and set aside.
Rinse cucumbers and pat dry. Remove the top and bottom tips of the cucumbers. Cut ribbon thin slices along the sides of the cucumber. You should get a strip of green ribbon on both edges of the cucumbers with the middle white or translucent. Pat the slices dry to remove any excess moisture. Set aside.
Butter the slices of bread with the cream cheese mixture, be sure to get all the way to the edges of the bread. Set aside.
Take one slice of buttered bread and using the sliced cucumbers, lay them diagonally across the slice of bread with each slice of cucumber overlapping the other until the entire slice of bread is covered.
Cut away the crusts and excess cucumber (hanging at the sides) from the bread creating a perfect square. Cut the bread diagonally to create a triangle, this will give you 24 sandwiches, however, if you like, make 2 diagonal cuts to create 4 sandwiches or simply cut into 4 squares and then repeat until all the sandwiches are cut.
Season with salt and black pepper and garnish with a sprig of parsley just before serving.
NOTES
You can use a cookie cutter to cut the sandwich into various shapes. To do this, I would suggest not removing the crusts as it will provide more surface area for cutting.
To make ahead, butter the bread, arrange in a single layer and cover with plastic wrap or if you must stack, place plastic wrap between each layer. Refrigerate in an airtight container. Bring up to room temperature before slicing cucumbers, assembling and cutting; season just before serving.
