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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Cheesy Summer Squash Flatbread

This cheesy summer squash flatbread is heaped with marinated squash, blue cheese and mozzarella for a savory snack (goes great with white wine or chilled beer!) or even as a main course. In that case, you can serve it with salad to complete the meal. 

So, our weather hasn’t been great – lots of rain and very little sun – but after the drought/scorcher that was summer 2022, I’m not about to complain. My tomatoes are still small and green but my summer squash are flourishing.

I grew them from seeds in smaller pots and transplanted them thinking they might vine but this variety of crookneck squash does not. That said, I deliberately chose the seeds that said “good in pots” and so they are! 

Fortunately, even though I have five plants, they grow just a few squash at a time and so – for now - I’m able to keep up with the harvest but we’ve still been eating a lot of summer squash and that’s a good thing. 

This is the first time I’ve attempted growing these crookneck squash but since they’ve turned out so easy, I know it won’t be the last. Only one caveat: I picked one to cook a week ago that was as big as full grown but it still had some green on it. Talk about bitter! I figured the size was what mattered but now I know not to pick them till they are completely yellow. 

Cheesy Summer Squash Flatbread

If you don't have summer squash, zucchini is an excellent substitute. In fact, this recipe is adapted from one on the delicious. magazine website using courgette (BrE for zucchini.)  If you do not have a 12 in cast iron skillet, this can also be baked in the oven on a pizza stone. Put the stone in as you preheat the oven. 

Ingredients

For the flatbread dough:

1 2/3 cups or 200g strong white flour plus extra for dusting

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

4 1/2 fl oz or 133ml tepid water

1/4 cup or 60g fed sourdough starter

For the topping:

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil

3 small summer squash, trimmed (about 300g)

Finely grated zest 1 lemon

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 1/2 oz or 100g Roquefort or other strong blue cheese, crumbled

4 1/4 oz or 120g fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons pine nuts (20g)

Optional for serving: lemon wedges (from the one you zested)

Method

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Add the tepid water and the sourdough starter. 

Use a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk to combine everything into a wet and sticky dough. 

Use damp hands to form it into a loose lump. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or cling film and then leave it at room temperature for 6-8 hours.

Important: Stretch and fold the dough over several times during the rising time to develop the gluten. I set a timer for 30 minutes to remind myself to keep doing this step often.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a small pot until it just starts to shimmer. Remove the pot from the heat and add in the sliced garlic. 

Leave to infuse until the oil is cool. Strain out the garlic with a small sieve and save for adding to the flatbread to serve. 

Cut the summer squash in half and scoop out any seeds. Discard or compost the seeds. Cut the squash into long ribbons using a vegetable peeler or slice finely lengthways. 

Put the thin slices in a bowl with the lemon zest and 2 tablespoon of the garlic oil, then season with a sprinkle fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Massage the salt, pepper, zest and oil into the squash as you might do it raw kale for kale salad. Set aside for at least 30 minutes but longer is better to help soften the squash. 

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C, and then start heating a large cast-iron skillet on your stovetop.

Roll out the dough into a circle on a piece of nonstick baking parchment. Despite mine being nonstick, I found it still needed quite a bit of flour underneath so it would turn loose when I needed it to. You may find the same. 

Prop the squash bowl on its side so that any juices that have accumulated can run off. Soak it up with a paper towel and discard. We are looking for crispy flatbread so want to keep the toppings as dry as possible. 

When the iron skillet is very hot, carefully transfer the dough circle to it. Cook the dough on the stovetop for about 2-3 minutes. You can see the middle starting to cook here. 

Pop the skillet into your preheated oven to cook the flatbread before adding the toppings. I set a timer for five minutes. 

When your timer rings, remove the flatbread from the oven. 

Top it with the summer squash slices, crumbled blue cheese, sliced mozzarella and pine nuts.

Return the flatbread to the oven. Cook for a further 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the summer squash is golden in places. 

You want a crunchy top and a crunchy bottom. Check the bottom with a wooden spatula and leave it in a bit longer if it isn't to your liking. 

Likewise, if you desire a little more color on your squash or cheese, you can turn the oven to broil for another minute or two. Just be watchful so it doesn't burn. 

Remove the pan from the oven and slide the flatbread onto a cutting board. Top with the reserved garlic and some more garlic oil, if desired. 

I found that extra oil was not necessary as the oils from the cheese created little pools already. In fact, I dabbed them with a paper towel to remove some of the oil. If you are a fan of oily focaccia, this probably won’t bother you. I like mine on the drier side. 

Cut into wedges to serve.  

I also gave my slices a squeeze of lemon juice. You might want to as well.

Enjoy!

It’s Foodie Extravaganza time, when my fellow bloggers and I share recipes for random foodie holidays. This month it’s National Zucchini Day on 8 August but our host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm said I could sub in my summer squash since many people use them interchangeably. Thanks, Wendy, and thanks for hosting! Check out all the recipe links below. 

• Black Bean and Zucchini Enchilada Casserole by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cheesy Summer Squash Sourdough Flatbread by Food Lust People Love
• Golden Zucchini with Whipped Ricotta and Feta by Pandemonium Noshery
• Keto Zucchini Balls in Creamy Tomato Gravy by Sneha's Recipe
• Seared Zucchini Topped with Fresh Corn Salad by Culinary Cam
• Zucchini & Orzo Pasta Baked Cheddar Casserole by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Zucchini Slaw by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Zucchini with Cheese Flatbread by Palatable Pastime

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. 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 spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Summer Squash Parmesan Muffins #MuffinMonday

Just picked summer squash and Parmesan cheese combine to make fluffy, flavorful small batch muffins that are perfect as a snack or for breakfast.

If I were a tv chef, this recipe would make just six muffins. Does it drive anyone else crazy when they just set aside a bowl of batter and don’t even use a spatula to scrape the sides? I know they have time constraints but, come on! It only takes a few seconds. Such a waste. 

One of the reasons I love using my silicone muffin cups is because when there is a bit of batter left over, I am not tempted to overload the cups. It’s just so easy to pop another one on the baking pan and make seven instead of six, or 13 instead of 12. 

Another reason I love them is because they don’t need greasing or lining with paper cups. Muffins slide right out every time. Living the dream. It’s the small things, folks. 

Summer Squash Parmesan Muffins

This recipe makes six or seven muffins, depending on the size of your muffin cups and whether you can be bothered to use a rubber spatula. It was adapted from one on the delicious. magazine website and was published in the September 2019 edition. 

Ingredients

1 summer or crookneck squash (approximate weight after removing seeds: 80g)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup or 80ml milk

1 egg

1 cup or 125g flour

2 oz or 57g grated Parmesan, divided

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Method

Cut the fat part of the summer squash in half and scoop the seeds out and discard (or compost) them. 

Grate the rest of the squash onto a paper towel. 

Fold the paper towel over to cover the grated squash and roll it up in a cloth towel. Wring as much juice as you can out of the squash, set aside. 

Heat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 7 holes of a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cases. Or use silicone muffin cups on a baking tray.

Separate out a small amount of the grated Parmesan for topping. 

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg and milk. 

Add in the grated squash, flour, Parmesan, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cayenne. Fold until just combined.

Divide the batter among the muffin holes and top each with a pinch or two of the reserved grated Parmesan. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. 

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy! 

It's the last Monday of July - where has the month gone?! - so that means it's time again for Muffin Monday. Check out the recipe links below!

• Blueberry Basil Jam Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Lemon Poppy Zucchini Bread Muffins from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Sourdough Apricot Oat Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Summer Squash Parmesan Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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