America is a confirmed sandwich nation. Everywhere you go you find sandwich stands, sandwich shops, and nine out of ten people seem to stick to the sandwich-and-glass-of-milk or cup-of-coffee luncheon. America has developed variety in fillings, breads, and shapes, from the four-decker combination to the pale slab of white bread with a paper-thin slice of meat and much floury gravy poured over all to a vast array of really good sandwiches that distinguish our menus. It is no wonder, then, that the cocktail sandwich has come more and more into vogue.
First cousin to that aristocratic and refined member of the family, the English tea sandwich, the cocktail version should be commanding in appearance and richly attired in a simple way. The bread should be thin enough to be almost revealing, well filled, the sandwich large enough for only two bites and tailored to the last degree of perfection. Stars, crescents, tigers, rabbits, and four-leaf-clover shapes may be acceptable for tea; but for cocktails—ah, ah! Thin rectangular fingers or small squares, diamonds, and rounds should be the only shapes ever seen on a tray served with drinks.
Try to find the most interesting breads in your community and always use them for such sandwiches. In almost any town or city today, there is some semblance of variety offered by commercial bakeries; and there are many recipes for interesting breads to be made at home for this service. I think the dark, heavier-textured breads are most desirable for the cocktail tray. There are many different types of pumpernickel and rye breads which are excellent. The Scandinavians, all of whom are sandwich lovers, have developed a dozen different types of dark, meaty breads; the Danish pumpernickel, dark and light; the Swedish rye breads; the coarse, very dark bread of the Russians. All these are remarkably good with drinks. There seems to be a renaissance these days in this country for the very close grained homemade type of bread which we all knew as children. One energetic woman in the East perfected a firm white bread which sold over the entire seaboard, with the result that many commercial bakeries are now offering a loaf of this same type. The vogue is growing in every section of the country. Then, there is the delicious egg bread that is so much a part of the Jewish food tradition, and its cousin, the brioche. The recipe I gave for this in the preceding chapter may be used, baked in a loaf pan; it makes perfect sandwiches.
Have bread cut very, very thin for cocktail sandwiches. If you have a very sharp knife and a good eye, you may be able to cut it at home; otherwise, ask your delicatessen manager to put it on his electric slicer and cut it as thin as possible. Have him cut it the long way of the loaf, for that way you save labor and get more sandwiches per loaf. If bread is very soft and new, it should be placed in the refrigerator for an hour or two before slicing.
Have fresh butter in a bowl and let it get very soft and creamy. It will harden later in the refrigerator when the sandwiches are made.
Have spreads ready and soft, meat sliced, knives sharp, and off you go. Pile the sandwiches on a tray as they are cut; cover them with waxed paper and a damp cloth, and give them at least an hour or two in the refrigerator before serving.
Cut sandwiches in fingers, about one by three or two inches, or cut with a round cutter.
Most of the canapé spreads may be used for sandwiches and some of the butters listed in that chapter will enhance the flavor of meats in sandwiches; use them occasionally instead of the usual sweet butter.
Here are some of the “regulars:”
♦ White meat of chicken or turkey on white bread, preferably.
♦ White meat of chicken or turkey with chutney butter or curry butter.
♦ Chopped chicken with chopped almonds or Brazil nuts.
♦ Chopped chicken with sweet gherkin.
♦ Thinly sliced baked ham with mustard butter.
♦ Baked ham on nut bread spread with tomato butter.
♦ Baked ham with chutney on pumpernickel.
♦ Thin slices of baked ham and smoked salmon with plenty of sweet butter; delicious on heavy black bread.
♦ Thinly sliced baked ham with slivers of white meat of chicken.
♦ Sliced Westphalian-style ham (from any delicacy shop) on thinly sliced white bread.
♦ Chopped ham with English mustard and fresh horseradish and cream.
♦ Chopped ham with sweet gherkin and a little chopped pine apple.
♦ Chopped ham with chopped ripe olive and grated cheese.
♦ Chopped ham and chopped chicken in equal parts and a few chopped, toasted Brazil nuts mixed with them. Season with English mustard or horseradish.
♦ Thinly sliced tongue with French mustard.
♦ Thinly sliced tongue with chopped chives.
♦ Thinly sliced tongue with Roquefort butter.
♦ Thinly sliced tongue with grated fresh horseradish mixed with cream.
♦ Chopped tongue with sweet gherkins and French mustard.
♦ Chopped tongue with chopped Gruyère cheese and mayonnaise.
♦ Thin slices of rare roast beef with plenty of English mustard or horseradish and cream.
♦ Thin slices of roast lamb with garlic butter.
♦ Chopped lamb with curry butter and chutney.
♦ Slices of roast veal with anchovy butter.
♦ Thinly sliced cold fresh ham with chopped pickled onions.
♦ Cold fresh ham with garlic butter.
♦ Sliced salami with fines herbes butter.
♦ Slices of bologna with thin slices of Cheddar cheese.
♦ Tuna-fish paste.
♦ Shrimp spread.
♦ Lobster spread.
♦ Crabmeat mixed with chopped chives and mayonnaise.
♦ Thinly sliced smoked sturgeon.
♦ Smoked salmon with horseradish.
♦ Anchovy fillets with chopped egg.
♦ Sardine and thinly sliced dill pickle.
♦ Sardine spread.
♦ Sardine and chopped egg and mayonnaise.
♦ Fresh salmon flaked and mixed with mayonnaise and combined with paper thin slices of cucumber.
♦ Thin slices of onion with salt.
♦ Sliced onion marinated in French dressing for several hours and drained.
♦ Sliced onion and cucumber.
♦ Chopped olive and mayonnaise.
♦ Chopped olives and nuts in equal portions bound with cream cheese.
♦ Chopped olive and egg and mayonnaise.
♦ Finely chopped green pepper with a binding of mayonnaise.
♦ Cream cheese and fresh horseradish.
♦ Cream cheese and chives with cucumber.
♦ Thinly sliced avocado with garlic butter.
♦ Any highly flavored cheese such as Swiss, Gruyère, Brie, Camembert, Limburger, Liederkranz, Oka, aged Cheddar, Gorgonzola, Provolone, Stilton, Cheshire, etc. They are of course much better when served on thin, dark breads that have good round flavor, ryes of all kinds, pumpernickel, and Italian whole wheat.
The highball sandwich is a coinage of my own, I believe. It has been the solution for many of my friends and pupils who wanted to know what to serve a group of men meeting for an evening of cards or talk, or to a mixed group which was to have highballs during an evening gathering.
It is the larger brother of the cocktail sandwich. It is thicker by an eighth of an inch or so and about three inches square. It fills in when a substantial snack is desired and where a buffet table would be a nuisance. Furthermore, such sandwiches may be prepared or ordered in advance and kept in the refrigerator till they are to be served.
The highball sandwich should nearly always be on dark, well-flavored bread and should be well filled and substantial in appearance. Chicken, meats, and cheese are the most acceptable fillings, with plenty of spice and sauce. The mixtures welcome at cocktail time are not as desirable here nor are the very “gooey” fillings which have a tendency to drip here and there.
Serve plenty of pickles with these snacks, additional mustard and horseradish, and some celery and radishes; usually, green onions will be appreciated.
Sandwiches with Champagne or Punches
Here is one place I feel that white bread is a necessity and where one is rather limited in choice of fillings. After all, champagne is the luxury drink to most of us and graces festive occasions better than anything else.
Paper-thin sandwiches of pâté de foie gras and white meat of chicken are the most complementary items to serve. Ham, too, in all its forms, and perhaps cream cheese and chives, if you care for a rather sharp contrast of flavors, as I do. But remember to make the sandwiches thin and tempting and a fitting accompaniment to your beverage.
These are typically European offerings, for the open face belegte brotchen has for years been a standard part of the food service of many European homes. Great platters of open-face slices come into the dining room or drawing room every night to tempt the appetite and to add pounds to the girth—how sad that food should do that to some of us who love it so well!
No article of food served gives the cook more chance to express artistic urges than these bits of fodder to encourage drinking. (I have at times found it necessary to drink in order to drown the flavor of some of the combinations!)
I shall include here a few of my favorites and shall let your imagination do the rest. If you care for the “bewitched” bread, you may set your thinking cap and invent all the combinations your fertile mind will permit.
Use substantial slices of firm bread, for there is nothing quite so unpleasant as flabby bits of bread giving way in your hand and tumbling to the floor. Cut the bread about one quarter to three eighths of an inch thick and spread it with butter. Arrange fillings with care to provide a properly made bed for the decorations, and allow the sandwiches to chill thoroughly before serving.
OPEN-FACE CHICKEN SANDWICH
Spread the bread slice well with sweet butter. Place even slices of cold white meat of chicken on it in an orderly fashion. Sprinkle with chopped, blanched almonds, and decorate with fans made of tiny sweet gherkins sliced very thin almost through and spread out fanwise.
Spread a round slice of bread well with butter and place a round slice of cold baked ham the same size on it. Spread half of this with French mustard and over that place a crescent-shaped slice of cold chicken. Stuff straws of Switzerland Swiss cheese under the chicken so that they form a sunburst effect on the other half of the ham, and sprinkle with paprika. Edge the chicken slice with a tiny band of parsley chopped very fine.
FOIE GRAS OPEN FACE
Spread a rectangle of white bread with sweet butter and then with foie gras so that there is a slight ridge in the center of the slice. Edge with finely chopped toasted Brazil nuts and trim the center ridge with round truffle slices.
LIVER PASTE OPEN FACE
Spread slices of bread, preferably white, with a good liver paste or with a smoked liverwurst. Edge with slices of stuffed olive and garnish with chopped egg yolk.
HAM AND EGG OPEN FACE
Spread a rectangular piece of bread with mustard butter. Cover the slice with a piece of baked ham the same size. Then, in one corner place two slices of hard-boiled egg on two slices of red beet. Fit a tiny fan-shaped slice of ham on the corner so that it covers part of the egg. Repeat this in the opposite corner of the sandwich.
TONGUE AND WATERCRESS OPEN FACE
Spread a round of bread with sweet butter and place tiny sprigs of watercress around the edge so that they extend beyond the rim; top this with trimmed slices of tongue and place a dot of chopped chives in the center.
SALAMI AND CHIVES OPEN FACE
Spread a slice of bread with sweet butter. Place half slices of salami around the edge to give a scalloped effect.
Then spread the center with a cream cheese and chive spread so that it covers most of the sandwich; decorate with chopped parsley and chives or with a line of fines herbes butter forced through a pastry tube.
SAUSAGE AND CHEESE OPEN FACE
Spread slices of bread with sweet butter and place two thin slices of sausage on them—salami, bologna, cervelat, or any other type you may desire. Top these with thinly cut radish slices and then a round slice of cheese—Switzerland Swiss or Cheddar. Decorate with strips of pimiento.
SMOKED SALMON OPEN FACE
Spread rounds of bread with sweet butter and then place thin slices of smoked salmon on it. Top the salmon with a slice of unpeeled cucumber and a few grains of red caviar.
TOMATO AND EGG OPEN FACE
Place slices of firm ripe tomato on well-buttered bread slices, top with slices of hard-boiled egg, and garnish with finely chopped chives and curled anchovy fillets.
Spread slices of bread with Roquefort cheese butter. Edge with a frame of finely chopped chives and decorate with tiny mushroom caps.
ROAST BEEF OPEN FACE
Spread slices of bread with sweet butter and cover with slices of rare roast beef. Decorate with slices of pickled walnuts and pickle fans.
CUCUMBER OPEN FACE
Spread slices of bread with sweet butter. Alternate rows of unpeeled cucumber slices, onion slices, and slices of red beet so that they overlap. Decorate with chopped egg white.
CHOPPED HAM OPEN FACE
Spread slices of bread with sweet butter and well-spiced chopped ham. Decorate with crossbars of cheese strings, green pepper strings, and pimiento strings.
EGG OPEN FACE
Spread round slices of bread with tomato butter. On each place a slice of tomato topped with a cold poached egg well covered with mayonnaise. (For cold poached eggs, you proceed in the usual manner save for leaving the eggs in the boiling water till the yolk is set, but not hard.) Dust the mayonnaise with a few chopped chives.
Spread slices of bread with sweet butter. Cover with slices of white meat of chicken and top with rounds of sliced tomato. Sprinkle bits of crisp bacon over the tomato and garnish with sweet gherkin slices.
AVOCADO OPEN FACE
Spread slices of bread with garlic butter. Place thin slices of avocado alternated with slices of tomato on each slice and sprinkle with chopped chives and parsley. Serve immediately.
SHRIMP OPEN FACE
Spread slices of bread with fines herbes butter. Arrange cooked shrimp on them and place a dot of mayonnaise inside the curl of each shrimp. Decorate with chopped egg.
These are very satisfactory tidbits to serve with cocktails or late at night with highballs. You definitely need a good staff in the kitchen to do most of these or you must be quick and efficient yourself. They must be served hot and in relays of twelve or fifteen for a group of ten or so people.
This is a nation of hamburger and nutburger fans, so why not have at the next gathering of friends the same thing that attracts so many to the roadside stands? These are everyday foods, but wait! Give them a new importance by making them cocktail size:
COCKTAIL HAMBURGERS
First of all, for these get some tiny rolls; some supermarkets carry them and you will also find there small brown-and-serve rolls. Ideally, you would get your baker to make special rolls for you, I should say about one and one half inches in diameter.
To one pound of chopped sirloin of beef, with as little fat as possible, add two tablespoons of onion juice and two to three tablespoons of heavy cream, a teaspoon or more of salt, and a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly with the fingers and form into tiny cakes, an inch and a quarter in diameter and about one quarter of an inch thick. Sauté them in butter very quickly and place in the heated, buttered rolls and serve with mustard and horseradish on the plate. I advise you to have plenty of these, for they are popular.
1 pound of giblets (gizzard, heart, liver)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of chopped shallot
Thyme, tarragon, parsley
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of cognac
Chop the giblets very fine. Pour olive oil into an iron skillet and heat over a low flame. Add the chopped shallots, the herbs, and the chopped giblets. Sauté slowly, and lastly, add the salt and the cognac. Spread on slices of toasted bread, top with another slice, and serve at once. To vary this, you may roll the mixture in white bread, secure the roll with a toothpick, and toast under the broiler. Remove the toothpick before serving.
TOASTED CHEESE ROLLS
1 cup shredded American cheese
1 tablespoon of chili sauce
1 teaspoon each of dry mustard and finely ground black pepper
½ teaspoon of salt
2 eggs, beaten
Mix the cheese with the chili sauce and the dry spices; add the well-beaten eggs and mix thoroughly. Spread a little of this mixture on small slices of fresh white bread and roll tightly. Secure with toothpicks and toast under a slow flame. Remove the toothpicks before serving.
Mix one and one half cups of cooked and chopped chicken with a teaspoon of chopped parsley and a teaspoon of chives. Add two teaspoons of dry bread crumbs and enough heavy cream to bind. Form into small cakes, Sauté quickly in butter, and serve in small buns as directed for the beef hamburgers.
CREAM CHEESE ROLLS
1½ cups of cream cheese
½ teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of chopped chives
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of onion juice
1 egg, beaten
Mix cream cheese, salt, chives, parsley, and onion juice. Mix with beaten egg and beat thoroughly. Spread slices of white bread, well-buttered, with the mixture; roll tightly and secure with toothpicks. Toast under a very low flame till well browned.
HOT MUSHROOM SANDWICH
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of chopped chives
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
½ teaspoon of Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon of salt
Cream
Sauté the mushrooms in butter till thoroughly browned. Add the chives, parsley, mustard, and salt. Add just enough cream to bind, spread on slices of hot toast which are well buttered, and top with a second slice. Serve at once.
Spread slices of hot toast with butter and hazelnut spread. Put slices of crisp bacon and thin slices of tomato on the toast and cover with a well-buttered piece of toast.
I think rolled sandwiches rightly belong with tea food; but in case you have some particular yearning for them with cocktails, here are some general directions for preparing them: Use fine white bread that is very spongy—experiment with it to see if it has the elasticity to roll without cracking. Spread the squares carefully and roll as tightly as possible. Roll each sandwich in a tiny square of waxed paper and allow to chill thoroughly before serving.
Watercress is one of the most popular fillings for rolled sandwiches and it makes very decorative ones. Other fillings are smoked salmon, tomato butter, fines herbes butter, chopped chicken, and chopped ham.