I love the tiny sandwiches, scones, and petit fours served at afternoon tea, but rarely do I make dainty crustless sandwiches at home. So for today's 'Wich of the Week [1], I used the Kentucky Derby [2] as an excuse to make some teatime treats. These ladylike sandwiches are filled with Benedictine cheese, a creamy cucumber-and-scallion spread that's native to Louisville and often served on Derby Day.
The Benedictine is a twist on the usual cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, which is by far one of my favorite teatime combos. These sandwiches benefit from the added kick of scallions; in fact, they were so flavorful that no one even complained about the low-fat cream cheese. The only somewhat odd ingredient is green food coloring, but since that's the tradition, I went with it, and it gave the spread a nice pastel hue. To see how I made them, including a step-by-step photo gallery, .
Adapted From Roadfood Sandwiches [3]
Ingredients
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated, and drained of moisture
1 bunch scallions, white parts plus two inches of green parts, finely chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat cream cheese)
1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1-2 drops green food coloring
8 slices white bread, crusts removed
3 red leaf lettuce leaves
Directions
- Peel the cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Using a microplane grater, grate the cucumber into a colander and drain the moisture off. Transfer cucumber to a bowl.
- Finely chop the scallions and add them to bowl with the cucumber.
- In the bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and food coloring and mix thoroughly.
- To make each sandwich, spread a thin but significant layer of the cheese spread onto each slice, spreading just almost to the edges of the bread.
- Place a single layer of lettuce atop one of the slices, then press the two pieces of bread together so that the lettuce is between the two layers of cheese.
- Cut diagonally into four triangles and serve.
Print recipe with images [3] | without images [3]
- The ingredients [5]
- Scraping out the seeds [6]
- Grating the cucumber (a microplane grater works better) [7]
- Use a colander to drain the moisture [8]
- Use the white parts of the scallions, plus about two inches of green [9]
- Chop them very finely [10]
- Mixing the cheese [11]
- Cutting off the crusts [12]
- Spread the cheese generously but not so much that it oozes out the sides [13]
- Lay the lettuce flat between the two pieces of bread [14]
- Cutting the triangles [15]
- Photo 12 [16]
- Photo 13 [17]
- Photo 14 [18]
- Photo 15 [19]