Smoked Salmon Smørrebrød

This smoked salmon smørrebrød is the perfect open-faced sandwich made with lemony cream cheese flavored and flecked with green chives, on sourdough toast. Topped to finish with watercress, it’s the perfect light lunch or snack. 

When our host decided on Sandwich Recipes for today’s Sunday FunDay theme, I knew immediately what I wanted to make. Some rendition of the “Dutch sandwiches” I made for a post in the very first year I started this blog. (So please forgive the ugly photos. I keep those up to remind myself how far I’ve come.)

I tell the story of working at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Abu Dhabi and how I first learned about open-faced sandwiches. Despite spending some of my formative years as an expat child, clearly, I still had a lot to learn about other cultures. 

For this post I did a bit more research to discover that many other countries also enjoy open-face sandwiches so my Dutch title was a bit misplaced. In fact, according to Wikipedia, “In countries like Denmark, where smørrebrød is common, smørrebrød is not considered a form of sandwich; rather, a sandwich is considered a form of smørrebrød with an extra piece of bread on top.” 

To-may-to, to-mah-to. Whatever we call it, the research was fun and we loved the sandwiches. 

Smoked Salmon Smørrebrød

The cream cheese can be made a day ahead and, in fact, tastes better when it is because the flavors have time to meld. If you can’t get your hands on chives, use green onion tops and mince finely. The cream cheese will make more than two large open-faced sandwiches but if you are as generous with the salmon as I am, you’ll need to buy more. 

Ingredients

7 oz or 200g block cream cheese (not whipped spread) at room temperature

Zest 1 lemon

Small bunch fine chives, plus extra for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper

3 1/2 oz or 100g smoked salmon, finely slices

2 large slices sourdough bread

Baby watercress for garnish

Method

Finely slice the chives.

Mix them into the softened cream cheese, along with the lemon zest and a few good grinds of black pepper. 

Refrigerate in a covered container until about 30 minutes before you are really to assemble the open-faced sandwiches. 

Spread the bread, toasted or untoasted – your choice – with the chive lemon cream cheese. 

Top with smoked salmon. 

Add on some watercress and more chives, if desired, along with a couple of grinds of black pepper. 

As my sourdough slices are so large, I cut them in four pieces each to serve. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay! Hope the weather is nice where you live. The sun has finally come out over here and we are beyond delighted. In honor of National Sandwich Month, my fellow bloggers and I are sharing sandwich recipes. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Mayuri's Jikoni: Avocado Tomato Sandwich
• Palatable Pastime: Brie and Vegetable Agrodolce Sandwich 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Brown Bread Carrot Cabbage Sandwich
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Dill Pickle Grilled Cheese
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Grilled Meatball Sub
• Food Lust People Love: Smoked Salmon Smørrebrød
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Whiskey Bacon Butter Bacon, Egg, & Cheese

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

These Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches are a welcome savory treat that is perfect for parties or picnics. Like ‘em even spicier, add more jalapeño!

A couple of weeks ago, my husband made a dish that called for eight ounces of roasted red peppers aka pimentos. Younger daughter was dispatched to the store and came home with a 12-ounce jar. Now you or I might have just hummed the whole thing in but my husband is still quite the recipe rule follower (although he is getting better with experience) so he weighed out 8 ounces and put the rest in the refrigerator. 

Fortuitously, my pimento cheese recipe calls for exactly four ounces so it did not go to waste. To change things up a little, I added eight ounces of diced ham as well. Delicious!

Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

For this sandwich spread, I used a pack of ready diced ham but this would also be an excellent use for some of your leftover baked ham from Easter or Christmas. If you don’t have leftover pimentos, there are 4 oz jars available at most grocery stores. 

Ingredients 

1 (4 oz or 113g)) jar pimentos, drained and chopped

1-2 teaspoons finely grated onion, plus any juice

8 oz or 227g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 fresh jalapeño, minced

8 oz or 227g diced ham

1/2 cup or 120ml mayonnaise

10 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed

Method

Grate the cheddar finely into a large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Use a microplane to grate the onion right in top of the cheese so that any onion juice will also drip in. 

Add in the minced jalapeño and the pimentos. Use a fork to mix them thoroughly with the cheese and onion.

Add in the diced ham and mix again. It’s easier to mix thoroughly when the ingredients are dry so make sure to do this before adding the mayonnaise. 

Now, add in the mayonnaise and mix well.

Spread on bread for sandwiches. Be generous! Put it on thick. No one likes skimpy sandwich filling.

Or if you want to get fancy, cut the sandwiches into three. These will be very popular on a party table.

If you make them ahead, refrigerate the sandwiches covered with slightly damp paper towels and then cling film. This keeps the bread from getting dried out and stale. 

Enjoy!

Happy Easter to my readers who celebrate today! It’s Sunday FunDay and my friends and I are sharing creative ham sandwiches. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Keto 2-Minute Protein Bread & A Ham Sandwich from Sneha's Recipe
• Peameal Ham and Egg Breakfast Sandwich from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches from Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Ham, Cheese and Tomato Sandwich from Palatable Pastime
• Ham & Pickle Sandwich from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Croque Monsieur from Making Miracles

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Marinated Turkey Kabobs - Shish Hindi

Flavorful and tender, these Marinated Turkey Kabobs aka Shish Hindi are a delightful main course. Stuff them in pita bread or eat them plain! So good!

For years I’ve been making shish tawook, the chicken version of this dish. It’s truly one of our favorite meals especially when served with homemade hummus and tabouli for a full-on Middle Eastern dining experience. 

While researching turkey (the fowl) for this recipe, I learned that in many languages it is called some version of “Indian bird,” for instance, in Armenian, it is called hndkahav or hntkahav, which translates to “Indian chicken.” In Hebrew, the turkey is called tarnegol hodu, literally meaning "rooster of India." In both Polish and Ukrainian, turkey is called indyk, a reference to India. Similarly it is indik in Yiddish, also referring to India. And there are more! Source: Bare Bones Translations. 

If you are saying to yourself, I had no idea that turkeys originated in India! Well, that's because they didn't. Turns out that the story is more convoluted than the name in other languages would have you believe and, frankly, the whole thing started making my head hurt. Suffice to say that the turkey is a native north American bird but it's been domesticated in many locales and one of those is India. 

At some point in my google fest, I found a site that called turkey skewers (skewers = shish) shish hindi and I can only imagine that what they were trying to indicate was Indian chicken aka turkey. I have since lost that link but it tickled me so I kept the name. 

Marinated Turkey Kabobs - Shish Hindi

I haven’t included the recipes for the garlic mayo or salad since this post is primarily about the turkey but making garlic mayo is simple. Add 1 clove of minced garlic to about 1/4 cup or 60ml of your favorite mayonnaise. For the salad, I include deseeded cucumber, finely sliced onion, sliced black olives and small tomatoes, halved. Dress the salad simply with a drizzle of olive oil, a generous squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Ingredients

1/3 cup or 80ml plain yogurt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons or 45ml fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 lb or 450g turkey breast fillet 

8-10 wooden skewers, soaked in water for an hour. 

Optional to serve:

Pita bread

Garlic mayonnaise - see note above

Mixed salad- see note above

Method

Put all the ingredients except the turkey into a nonreactive bowl and mix well.  

Clean the extra fat and sinews off of the turkey breast, if any, and cut it into bite-sized pieces. 

Pop them in the bowl with the marinade and stir until the turkey is well-coated.  Let this marinate for as long as you have but at least one hour. 

When you are ready to cook the shish hindi, push the turkey pieces on to your soaked wooden skewers.

Heat a well-seasoned iron skillet till very hot.  Put the turkey on and cook for several minutes. Turn the skewers over when they are well-browned. 

Cook for a few more minutes until both sides are browned and the turkey is cooked through.   

You can eat the turkey kabobs as is with side dishes but we like to stuff them into a folded pita bread with garlic mayo and salad. A delicious, tasty meal!

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes in celebration of National Something on a Stick Day, which happens to be tomorrow, 28 March! Many thanks to our host, Mayuri of Mayuri’s Jikoni.

• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Bacon Mini Cheese Balls on a Stick
• A Day in the Life on the Farm Homemade Corndogs
• Food Lust People Love: Marinated Turkey Kabobs - Shish Hindi
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Mini Caprese Salad Skewers
• Sneha’s Recipe: Paneer Lollipops
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Vegetable Seekh Kababs

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Homemade Muffuletta

This homemade muffuletta is my take on a popular New Orleans favorite, made with fresh olive salad, mortadella, mozzarella, salami, ham and provolone.

When I was a child, a road trip to New Orleans to visit my relatives was a huge treat. My Aunt Karen was the loveliest of ladies, an excellent cook (she of pecan pie fame) and also a great tour guide. She made sure we enjoyed all the best that New Orleans had to offer each time we visited. 

Of course, that meant a day in the French Quarter, first enjoying the powdered sugar covered beignets for breakfast at the Café Du Monde and occasionally picking up muffuletta from Central Grocery for lunch. That little Italian grocery store/deli is chock full of color and flavor. If you ever get to New Orleans, don’t miss paying it a visit. (If we didn't get muffuletta, fried shrimp po'boys were another fave, but that's a post for another day.)

Since traveling is still out of the question for most of us these days, you could make my homemade muffuletta and pretend you've been to New Orleans. (Make a New Orleans Bloody Mary to enjoy while you assemble the sandwich.) I did wrap these up and take them on a picnic, which is why my bread is cut in half already, to make it easier to transport. When you buy your muffuletta at Central Grocery, it is going to be big and round! 

Of course, an Italian grocery store is going to use an Italian loaf to make this sandwich. I like to switch things up and a pretty decorative loaf like this Khobz Mzaweq.  I also make my own olive salad but you can use store bought. If so, make sure it’s made in New Orleans or it just won’t taste right. 

Homemade Muffuletta

Despite the fact that I love baking bread, I don’t think it’s the best part of a sandwich. I reserve that space for the fillings. In the case of this homemade muffuletta, buy your meats and cheeses in the deli section where you can ask the person behind the counter to slice everything lovely and thin. Then pile them high!

Ingredients

10 in or 25cm round bread loaf

1 cup or 240ml olive salad (store-bought or homemade)

8 oz or 226g Mortadella, thinly sliced 

6 oz or 226g ham, thinly sliced

4 oz or 170g Genoa salami, thinly sliced 

4 oz or 170g sliced mozzarella, thinly sliced 

4 oz or 170g Provolone, thinly sliced 

Method

Cut your loaf in half through the equator. (As mentioned above, I also cut mine in half the other way so it would be easier to wrap and transport.) Spread the olive salad evenly on the inside of the bread.

Top with half of the mortadella. 

Follow that with the mozzarella and salami

 Add the provolone and the ham. 

Finally, add the rest of the mortadella. This sandwich is not for the faint hearted! 

Close the sandwich and wrap snugly in cling film. Refrigerate until ready to cut and serve. 

Cut into wedges to serve with a nice Italian chianti or a cold beer. The olive on the pick isn't necessary to hold the sandwich together but it looks cute. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and this week we are sharing sandwiches. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Bombay Chapatti Sandwich by Sneha's Recipe
• Chicken Bacon Pressed Picnic Sandwiches by Making Miracles
• Club Sandwich by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Falafel Pita Sandwich by Mayuri's Jikoni
• French Dip Sandwich au Jus (Slow Cooker) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Grilled Kielbasa Sandwiches by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Homemade Muffuletta by Food Lust People
• Is it, Or Isn't It, a Sandwich? by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Submarine Bites with Sub Sauce by Palatable Pastime
• Zucchini and Carrot Vegetable Sandwich by Cook with Renu

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Spicy Chicken Tikka Rolls with Herby Raita #FoodieExtravaganza

Made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts marinated with spice paste, these spicy chicken tikka rolls are juicy, flavorful patties to tuck in a bun with raita, cucumber and onions.

A lot of people cook with boneless, skinless chicken breasts because they are easy to handle and there are no worrisome bones or other parts to worry about.

Years ago, when we were living in a little oilfield town on the coast of Brazil, shopping was quite the challenge. The one reasonably sized supermarket was the worst place to buy animal products, so every shopping trip had to include a stop at the butcher for beef, the chicken shop for you-can-guess-what, and yet another establishment for pork and sausage.

Whenever a new company family came to town, I’d show the wife around and help her do her shopping, often translating as needed, if she didn’t speak Portuguese yet. I had been in Macaé almost a year when my now close friend Jacky moved there. We walked the children at school one morning and then started doing the rounds. I dropped her home later with all of her essentials, including a whole chicken for supper that evening.

She was horrified, and I was mortified to have forgotten to warn her, that when the chicken shop sells you a whole chicken, that’s exactly what they mean. Oh, it’s nominally plucked, but you get the head, feet with toenails, all the parts. We still laugh to this day because after having those beady chicken eyes still attached roll out of the bag looking at her, she waited till her husband got home from work and made him deal with cutting off and disposing of the bits she didn’t want to cook. “You should have called me!” I said, waaaaay too late.

The problem with boneless breasts though is that while they cook more quickly than chicken on the bone and have very little fat – great if you are watching your calorie intake - that’s also what makes them a greater risk for drying out. And nobody likes dry chicken!

My solution is to start with whole breasts and season them amply, for instance, with curry spice paste and salt. Then I add some onion and an egg and use my food processor to chop the breasts just enough so I can form patties. It only takes about a minute or so of short pulses. (By the way, this method also works great with pork or beef cubes.)

Of course, like all patties, these can still be overcooked so you’ll want to watch them carefully and remove them from the hot pan when they are just cooked through. They are best served right away or you can keep them warm by covering them with foil on a warm plate.

Spicy Chicken Tikka Rolls with Herby Raita 

This patty recipe is also wonderful made into small meatballs. Baked or pan-fried, they can be served with the raita as a dip.

Ingredients
For the burger patties:
4 small chicken breasts (about 1.1 lbs or 500g)
2 tablespoons curry spice paste (homemade from one these Jamie Oliver recipes https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetable-recipes/easy-homemade-curry-pastes/ or store-bought)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 medium onion, sliced plus extra for serving, if desired
1 medium egg
1 slice whole-grain sandwich bread

For the raita:
1/2 cup or 170g Greek yogurt (for creamiest results, use whole fat)
1 small red chili pepper, finely minced
1 tablespoon finely minced onion
2-3 tablespoons finely minced cilantro
1-2 tablespoons finely minced fresh mint leaves
good pinch salt

To serve:
Raita (see ingredients list above)
Sliced cucumber
Sliced onion
4 soft round rolls

Method
Use a sharp knife to cut the chicken into chunks. Add in the spice paste and sprinkle on the salt. Stir to coat the chicken. Cover the chicken with cling film or pop it in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate. This can also be done earlier in the day or even the day before.

Meanwhile, make the raita. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside, covered, to allow the flavors to blend.

Put the egg and the onion for the burgers into your food processor and process until the onion is liquidized. Add in the marinated chicken cubes and pulse several times until the chicken is in small pieces.

Cut your slice of bread into small cubes and add them in with the chicken. Pulse a few more times, until the bread is incorporated.

Divide the chicken into four, and form each into patties.

It's going to be a bit sticky so lightly coat your clean hands with a little vegetable oil or dip them in water to stop the chicken sticking to them.

Cook the patties in a non­stick skillet or grill pan for about six to seven minutes each side.

If you have an instant read thermometer, the safe temperature for cooked chicken is 165°F or 74°C. Test the cooked patties right in the center.

To assemble the rolls, add a spoon or two of raita to each side of the bun and pop the burger on the bottom. Add sliced cucumber and onion, if desired. And perhaps a little more raita on the patty.

Enjoy!

This month my Foodie Extravaganza friends are celebrating National Sandwich Month along with our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the tasty sandwiches below.

• Braaibroodjie - Grilled Cheese Sandwich From South Africa by Sneha's Recipe
• Caprese Focaccia Sandwich by Caroline's Cooking
• Italian Style Chicken Club Sandwiches with Pane al Latte by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Jolly Holiday Specialty Toasted Cheese Sandwich by Simply Inspired Meals
• Spicy Chicken Tikka Rolls by Food Lust People Love
• Turkey Burger by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Venezuelan Stuffed Arepas by Pandemonium Noshery

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays by posting delicious recipes your family will love. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you’re a home cook looking for tasty recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

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