Safe Tea Sandwiches

[baroness]

I have just been asked to prepare tea sandwiches for a reception on Sunday -- 100 or more people. The sandwiches will have to be packed by 9 AM for an ordination service that begins at 3 PM, and no refrigeration will be available, though I do have insulated cooler bags.

Someone else is planning to do tuna salad; I am making the vegetarian ones. I would like them to be colorful, tasty, and of reasonable cost as they are a donation!

Ideas that I'm considering:

Cranberry-orange-walnut bread with cream cheese

Dark rye or pumpernickel with cream cheese and olives

Whole wheat bread with shredded carrot salad

More ideas and any tips would be very welcome; sandwiches are not my specialty!

[tino27]

Egg salad with capers and/or chives

Hummos with roasted red peppers, alfalfa sprouts, and some red onion

Goat cheese (cut with cream cheese for spreadability) and duxelle (mushrooms, shallots, herbs)

Are you going to assemble the sandwiches right before you serve them or earlier in the morning? I'd be worried the bread might go stale (or soggy from the fillings) if you make them too far in advance.

[HungryC]

A thin layer of softened butter spread onto both sides of the bread will keep the bread from going soggy. Not vegan, I know, but a time honored solution. Also, draping the cut sandwiches with wet paper towels before sealing in zipper bags or however you plan to transport them will also keep them from drying out. Thinly sliced radishes (food processor), lightyly salted, and butter are colorful & tasty. Or how about fresh dill, cream cheese, and cucumbers? I'm stuck in a sandwich rut these days: triple creme (in my case, usually Mt. Tam), Major Grey's chutney, and a bit of baby lettuce...if you can get some inexpensive Brie, it's a tasty combination.

If you're using presliced sandwich loaves, an electric knife allows you to trim the crusts off of an entire loaf at once without shredding the soft bread.

[baroness]

Egg salad with capers and/or chives

Hummos with roasted red peppers, alfalfa sprouts, and some red onion

Goat cheese (cut with cream cheese for spreadability) and duxelle (mushrooms, shallots, herbs)

Are you going to assemble the sandwiches right before you serve them or earlier in the morning? I'd be worried the bread might go stale (or soggy from the fillings) if you make them too far in advance.

←

Hummus sounds delicious, as does goat cheese!

Unfortunately, I will have to finish them by 9 AM. That's why I'm trying to think of sturdy breads and relatively dry fillings.

Radishes are another good idea. I figure this will be a more 'conservative' audience than I usually serve.

[Lilija]

I made a lemony pepper cream chese, with paper thin sliced cucumbers and radishes, and fresh dill not too long ago. I kind of winged it, and it was really really good (and I had to make about a hundred...). So good, that with leftovers, I made myself a full sized sandwich for lunch a few days later.

It was basically a few bricks of cream cheese softened and thinned with a few tablespoons of lemon juice, a splash of half and half, the rind of that lemon, plus coarse black pepper, and a tiny bit of garlic. Each sandwich got a sprig of fresh dill, paper thin layer of English cucumbers, and paper thin layer of radish slices. The bread was a very moist, kind of dense thin sliced bakery rye.

ETA: I just noticed that HungryC posted a similar idea. It might work for your early morning prep, too, because you can do everything the night before, and slap them together in the am.

Edited March 23, 2009 by Lilija (log)

[Talat_kas]

this is the best recipe of sandwich, serve at tea time.

Ingredients:

1 cup boil chicken (shredded)

¾ cup mayonnaise

½ cup cream cheese

½ tspn black pepper

½ tspn white pepper

Pinch of salt

1/2 tspn sugar

1 boil egg (cut into small pieces)

½ tspn mustard paste (optional)

Bread slices as required

Procedure:

1. Mix all the above ingredients well; mayonnaise, cream cheese, black pepper, white pepper, chicken, boil egg, mustard paste, salt and sugar.

2. Cut the sides of bread slices and make triangle shapes.

3. Now take one triangle piece and coat the chicken mixture on it,put a salad leaf, and tomato slice if you like and cover it with other triangle piece.

4. Similarly, make other sandwich like this.

Serving:

After making each sandwich wrap them in gelatin sheet completely and you can keep them at ordinary temperature without freezing them. Gelatin sheet is perfect for preserving food for hours.

Source: http://www.recipedose.com/2008/09/best-chi...d-sandwich.html

Edited March 24, 2009 by Talat_kas (log)

[teagal]

A combo of apricot jam, butter and flaked coconut all mixed together is very good and won't spoil. And any sandwich made with chutney is great!

[KarenDW]

Hummus will be ok for overnight, as long as the bread is on the denser side. And that filling would provide something for non-dairy people.

Would a baguette sandwich, cut into 1" slices, be dainty enough? These will need picks, though.

Do you need to plate all of these before 9am, or just have in containers & ready to ship?

If you are in transporting in containers, consider putting bags of ice between the containers, and wrapping in a towel or blanket inside of your insulated bag.

I'd suggest avoiding anything with mayonnaise, egg, fish, or poultry, especially if the weather is expected to be sunny. (even at freezing temps, an hour in a sunny window = bad news)

For big groups, I usually make & trim all the sandwiches the night before, and pack into the carry-boxes. Dress/lettuce line/etc. & chill the trays in the fridge overnight, too. Then in the morning, pack the whole works into the cooler bags. Plating at the venue is pretty much a breeze. Remember to take some gloves, picks, plastic wrap, a cutting board and your knife!

Egg salad with capers and/or chives

Hummos with roasted red peppers, alfalfa sprouts, and some red onion

Goat cheese (cut with cream cheese for spreadability) and duxelle (mushrooms, shallots, herbs)

Are you going to assemble the sandwiches right before you serve them or earlier in the morning? I'd be worried the bread might go stale (or soggy from the fillings) if you make them too far in advance.

←

Hummus sounds delicious, as does goat cheese!

Unfortunately, I will have to finish them by 9 AM. That's why I'm trying to think of sturdy breads and relatively dry fillings.

Radishes are another good idea. I figure this will be a more 'conservative' audience than I usually serve.

←

[baroness]

Hummus is definitely on my short list, but I'll need an alternative to pita -- whole wheat, rye??? I could add paper-thin carrot slices and/or a little romaine for color and crunch.

It would be easier to plate at the church; I'll have to talk to our choir director to see if I will have time to assemble the platters on site (or TELL him I need the time and possibly extra hands!)

[annecros]

Watercress is another good one for the veggie folks. Great in combination with cucumber and scallion.

[KarenDW]

Hummus is definitely on my short list, but I'll need an alternative to pita -- whole wheat, rye???  I could add paper-thin carrot slices and/or a little romaine for color and crunch.

It would be easier to plate at the church; I'll have to talk to our choir director to see if I will have time to assemble the platters on site (or TELL him I need the time and possibly extra hands!) 

←

Any dense whole wheat would be fine for the hummus; not too grainy if you are making the night before... they tend to fall apart.

Just TELL, don't ask. Are you singing? Maybe there could be a few extra hands...

[jackal10]

These are tea sandwiches, so delicate, not a meal substitute

Cucumber

Tomato

Marmite

Chopped egg salad

Smoked salmon

[rooftop1000]

I you can plate the day of...gently tuck your sandwiches back into the bread bags...they do fit quite nicely

actually for the evil triple deckers we did catering in the '80s we always stuck them back in the bag and refrigerated to firm them up for slicing

tracey

[Scout_21]

For Tea sandwiches I enjoy thinly sliced english cucumbers on some bread with peppered cream cheese. For the cream cheese I just give a few good turns of the pepper mill and stir well. Sometimes I even add a little bit of onion powder to the cream cheese as well. I had these sandwiches at The Orangery over in London a few year back.

[baroness]

Thank you all for your ideas and tips!

The ordination service was very moving, and the reception was lively and crowded. My platters were emptied quickly, as were many others--only some desserts remained at the conclusion.

I ended up making:

Cranberry-orange-pecan bread (home-baked) with cream cheese and

Hummus with paper-thin carrot slices on brick oven white bread, garnished with flat parsley

( I sought 'wheat' brick oven bread without success)

Lesson learned: When making dainty sandwiches, far LESS filling is required than I estimated. I used less than a pint of hummus, and less than a pound of cream cheese.

Time to find some ideas to use up 2 lbs. of cream cheese!

edited to add:

Yes, Karen, I sang as well!

Edited April 3, 2009 by baroness (log)

[judiu]

Thank you all for your ideas and tips!

The ordination service was very moving, and the reception was lively and crowded. My platters were emptied quickly, as were many others--only some desserts remained at the conclusion.

I ended up making:

Cranberry-orange-pecan bread (home-baked) with cream cheese and

Hummus with paper-thin carrot slices on brick oven white bread, garnished with flat parsley

( I sought 'wheat' brick oven bread without success)

Lesson learned: When making dainty sandwiches, far LESS filling is required than I estimated. I used less than a pint of hummus, and less than a pound of cream cheese. 

Time to find some ideas to use up 2 lbs. of cream cheese!

edited to add:

Yes, Karen, I sang as well!

←

Cheesecake! Major yum.

[KarenDW]

Thank you all for your ideas and tips!

...

Yes, Karen, I sang as well!

Congrats! I just KNEW you would go a great job!

as for the cream cheese... make some 6" cheesecakes & freeze them.