For me, one of the elements of a good sandwich is relevance. What do I mean? Each element brings something necessary to the sandwhich: the spread might serve to unite disparate flavors, the fried onions to give flavor and also add needed texture etc. Nothing must be superfluous. Sometimes I fail in the relevance battle because I am outvoted by Anders for whom there is never just enough… in his sandwhich world view, there is always this little bit more that can be added. As you can imagine, between my relevance approach and his delight in superfluity, we often need the United Nations to mediate our sandwhich choices. Sometimes I win. This little one is one such victory.
Brie sandwich with avocado, watercress and sprouts
Admittingly, I never envisioned adding scrambled eggs to roast beef. It just seems wrong, but scrambled eggs were being made for dinner and so I thought, “Why not”. You can call this the serendipitous sandwich because lo and behold, it actually turned out quite tasty. For a little extra crunch, I added onions (both fried and raw, sliced). Another serendipitous discovery was just how good tomato relish was on this – it went suprisingly well with the eggs and roast beef.
Roast beef ciabatta sandwich with scrambled eggs, tomato relish and onions
Don’t be intimidated by the length of this lavash cracker recipe, or the ingredient list. The process is a bit involved and definitely requires more time than a sandwich but the effort is well worth it. With a little attention, even novice bakers will be able to make this a staple in their pantries. Add the spices and seeds you like, and make it your own creation.
The past few weeks have been excessively hot.. even for the normally excessively high summer temperatures in Poway. Case in point – two nights ago at 10:00 pm, I had all the windows and doors open to drop the house temperature to a respectable 8oF. With temperatures like this, there is just no way I was going to do any cooking that required more than 5 minutes over a hot stove. This makes sandwiches an ideal meal. Paired with a side salad, it’s a wonderful way to beat the heat while taking care of nutritional needs.
Quite frankly, this isn’t much of a sandwich, much less amazing. It’s specifically made for children in Denmark, and is a typical sandwich they would take to school. It ranks just one notch above the infamous “sugar sandwich”, which is at the bottom of the sandwich pile. However, if you want to feel like a Danish kid, have one of these, then move on 🙂
This sandwich can be thrown together quickly if you have a little left over smoked mackerel (and don’t we all sometimes). Be careful not to overpower the subtle taste of mackerel.
The roast beef sandwich is yet another classic piece of smørrebrød. Generous layers of roast beef are stacked with remoulade, capers, sweet dill pickles, fried onions, salt and pepper. It comes with a variety of options, such as different smears (duck fat, butter, roasted garlic or mustard like this one). Typically it also has a nice little dash of shredded horseraddish, but I couldn’t find any on the day I made this.
In Denmark, smoked mackerel was formerly a delicacy reserved for special occasions such as family Christmas luncheons, or fancy dinner parties. Danish smoked mackerel typically comes from Bornholm, which is famous for its many smokehouses. Although made with smoked mackerel, this sandwich would work well with other smoked fish e.g. smoked salmon.
