#soft white bread

A refreshing but also indulgent entrée, this delicious Toast Skagen takes me back to warm Summer nights in Stockholm! Happy Friday!

Ingredients (serves 1):

1 heaped tablespoon Mayonnaise

1 fluffy sprig Garden Dill + a Dill flower, for garnish (optional)

1 thin slice red onion

1/2 teaspoon caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

half a dozen beautiful prawns, cooked (boiled or seamed) and cooled

a slice Soft White Bread 

4 beautiful lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried

1/4 cucumber

1/2 small lemon

Spoon Mayonnaise in a small bowl.

Finely chop Garden Dill and red onion, and add to the Mayonnaise. Give a good stir until well-combined.

Then, stir in sugar and apple cider vinegar until well-blended. Set aside.

Peel the prawns and cut them into small chunks, saving one or two of the smallest whole.

Stir prawns into the Mayonnaise mixture, mixing well to coat evenly. Cover with cling film, and chill in the refrigerator, at least an hour.

Toast Soft White Bread, and allow to cool.

Arrange lettuce leaves onto serving plate.

Cut cucumber into thin slices and halve them.

Cut one or two very thin slices off the lemon halve.

Place toasted Soft White Bread slice onto the lettuce.

Top with prawn mixture, and garnish with a few cucumber slices, arranging the rest of them onto the lettuce, lemon slices, and Dill flower, if using.

I first had a Braaibroodje in November, watching Northern Hemisphere teams host Southern Hemisphere sides and offer epic rugby. It wasn’t a proper Braaibroodje, though, because I had cooked it on a hot grill pan. Now, it is Summer (up here) and there’s more exciting Test Rugby to watch (South Africa beat Wales 32-29 at the death last Saturday, France was the only victorious Northern Hemisphere team against a very good Japanese side!) 

And since Jules and I have been spending some nights playing 221B Baker Street since my birthday, I thought sandwiches would make a nice dinner. Not the Luxury Sandwiches of Christmastime, but real, Regte Braaibroodjie, grilled over red embers! And these, vriende, are proper good, eh?! It so happened that, quite à propos, last night’s investigation involved South African diamond mines and jewel thieves!

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 large slices Soft White Bread

1 tablespoon butter, softened

4 heaped tablespoons Peach Chutney

½ large red onion

a large, not too ripe tomato, rinsed

90 grams/3 ounces good quality Edam Cheese

Prepare barbecue: half an hour before grilling, arrange a small layer of coals in the barbecue. Top with a few small branches of dry wood (applewood gives a good taste), and light.

Spread butter on one side of all four Bread slices. Flip them over and spread all sides generously with Peach Chutney.

Thinly slice red onion and cut tomato into slices. Arrange red onion slices onto the Peach Chutney on two of the Bread slices. Top with tomato slices, in an even layer.

Cut Edam into thick enough slices. Remove the red wax, cut slices into bits, and arrange Edam bits in a rather even layer onto the Peach Chutney on the other two Bread slices.

Sandwich laden Bread slices together carefully, and place sandwiches onto a gridiron, preferably one with two grates, to secure and hold them.

Once the flames have died down, and the embers are red, place gridiron over the embers, and grill the sandwiches. It won’t take more than 2 minutes on each side, possibly less! 

Carefully remove Braaibroodjie from the gridiron and cut them in halves.

These delicate and tasty Garden Herb Crab Sandwiches, fragrant with fresh garden herbs, are a must for any Summer Afternoon Tea or Picnic (especially if you find a nice spot by the water, be it a pond, a lake, a river or an ocean!) Happy Long Weekend, friends!

Ingredients (makes 8):

1/4 cup sour cream.

½ tablespoon Mayonnaise

a pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper

3 sprigs Garden Chervil

3 sprigs Garden Parsley

60 grams:2 ounces white crab meat

4 large slices Soft White Bread

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, Mayonnaise, black pepper and salt. Finely chop fresh Parsley and Chervil, and add to the bowl. Give a good stir until well-blended. Then, flake in crabmeat, and stir until well-combines. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, toast Soft White Bread slices and let them cool completely. Then, generously spread crab mixture onto each of the four slices of Bread.

Sandwich each two crab-ladden Bread slices together, pressing gently.

Cut each large sandwich diagonally into four triangles. Arrange finger sandwiches onto serving tray or plate, and chill, until serving time.

Serve Garden Herb and Crab Sandwiches for Tea, with Ham and Gruyère Sandwiches, Egg Sandwiches, Coronation Chicken Sandwiches and Cucumber Sandwiches, and a pot of piping hot tea!

Braaibroodjie, which I discovered recently, is your elevated grilled cheese sarnie. It is a combination of flavours, with the cheese, the tomato, the onion and the all-important Peach Chutney all complimenting each other to make a truly mouth-watering sandwich. Even better when grilled on the barbie! It makes an excellent snack to eat whilst watching a rugby game, with a glass of South African (obviously) Chardie; and if, like me, you’re gutted the Springboks lost to England by one tiny point, at least you’ve had a good meal!

Ingredients (serves 1):

2 large slices Soft White Bread

1/2 tablespoon butter, softened

2 heaped tablespoons Peach Chutney

1/2 small red onion

a small, not too ripe tomato, rinsed

45 grams/1 1/2 ounce Mature English Cheddar

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

Spread butter on one side of both Bread slices. Flip them over and spread both sides generously with Peach Chutney. 

Slice red onion and tomato. Arrange red onion slices onto the Peach Chutney on one of the Bread slices. Top with tomato slices, in an even layer.

Cut Cheddar into slices and arrange onto the Peach Chutney on the other Bread slice. 

Sandwich both laden Bread slices together carefully, and place sandwich onto the hot grill pan. Cook, 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until well-grilled and cheese is melted.*

Cut Braaibroodjie in halves and enjoy immediately, with a glass of chilled South African Chardonnay!

This beautifully fluffy Soft White Bread makes great breakfast toasts to slather with butter and Marmalade, is precfet for tea-time Finger Sandwiches, and is very easy to make when you don’t fancy walking to the bakery on a rainy day! Happy Saturday!

Ingredients (makes 3 medium baguettes):

1/2 cup  lukewarm water

1 level tablespoon active dry yeast

2 ½ cup strong white flour

1 teaspoon salt

40 grams/1.40 ounce cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

½ cup milk, at room temperature

1 egg

1 teaspoon milk

Pour water in a large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast, and stir well until well-blended. Set aside, a couple of minutes until yeast is dissolved.

In a medium bowl, combine strong white flour and salt; give a good stir. Rub butter into the flour mixture, between your fingers, until it resembles coarse meal.

Stir milk into the yeast mixture.

Add flour mixture to the yeast mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a dough starts forming. Tip dough onto a very lightly floured surface, and knead for a good ten minutes, until dough is soft and elastic.

Pop dough into one of the bowls, and cover with a tea towel or cling film. Prove, for about 40 to 45 minutes, in a warm, draft-free place. 

Butter a loaf tin and line with baking paper. Set aside.

Tip dough onto the counter-top, and knead again, about five minutes. Shape into a loaf, and place in prepared tin. Cover with a tea towel. Prove again, for an hour.

Preheat oven to 215°C/420°F. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Gently brush the top of the loaf with egg wash.

Place tin in the middle of the hot oven. Bake, at 215°C/420°F, for about 20 minutes, until a lovely golden brown colour.

Mrs Gosling: [about the stable boy Mr Gosling eloped with] “Yes sir, that’s the one, Raymond!”

Henry Mickleton: “Mrs Gosling, I’ve told you a hundred times, please don’t call me ‘sir’!”

Mrs Gosling: “Oh yes, of course, I’m sorry, Madam.”

Henry Mickleton: “That’s better. Now, please oblige me by getting rid of this tart and, do you know what I think I fancy?”

Mrs Gosling: “No, Madam. That’s always been a bit of a mystery to me.”

Henry Mickleton: “Some dear little cucumber sandwiches on an eighteenth century plate.”

Mrs Gosling: “Of course, Madam.”

If you haven’t had the chance to listen to Gloomsbury yet, I absolutely recommend it! The BBC Radio programme chronicles the lives of 1920s “bohemians” in a brilliant parody of the Bloombsbury Group. It is just delightful, and as I find inspiration for meals and menus everywhere and anywhere, Henry Mickleton’s (parody of Harold Nicholson, played by Jonathan Coy) obsession with cucumber sandwiches have persuaded me to make those for tea. I normally wouldn’t have, I would have thought them lacking in flavour, and would have favoured crumpets, slathered with butter and Golden Syrup, which also happen to be his wife Vera Sackcloth-Vest’s (parody of Vita Sackville-West, played by Miriam Margolyes) péché mignon! That would have been my loss, surely for they are really good! I made them with Labneh; Henry being a diplomat, I imagine he might have acquired a taste for the velvety texture of the Middle Eastern treat. That’s why these sandwiches are Henry Mickleton's Cucumber Sandwiches, and not Mrs Gosling’s (the couple’s housekeeper, played by Alison Steadman), who most definitely made them, all the while thinking them rather “exotic”, I expect! Jules and I enjoyed these, and crumpets, very much!

Ingredients (makes 8):

1/2 cucumber

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or coarse sea salt

1/3 cup Labneh

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

a pinch of salt

a small bunch fresh chives

1 1/2 heaped tablespoon sour cream

4 large slices Soft White Bread

Thoroughly rinse cucumber under cold water. Cut into thin slices, and place in a colander over a large bowl. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, toss gently, and leave for about half an hour. The salt will help realease the moisture from the cucumber.

In a small bowl, combine Labneh, black pepper and salt. Finely chop chives, and add to the bowl. Give a good stir until well-blended. Then, stir in sour cream. Chill in the refrigerator. 

Half an hour before tea, generously spread chives Labneh mixture onto each of the four slices of Bread. 

Gently pat cucumber slices with a paper towel and arrange them onto two of the Bread slices. Top with remaining two Bread slices, pressing gently to close the sandwiches.

Cut each large sandwich diagonally into four triangles. Arrange finger sandwiches onto serving tray or plate, and chill, until serving time.

The Right Honourable John Montagu was onto something! One of the Christmastime tradition my sister and I have, is playing 221B Baker Street after our Christmas Lunch -or sometimes in the middle of it, to allow our appetite to be restored for the rest of the meal- and in the following days, whilst we’re both on holiday. It started five years ago, when Jules visited me in Toronto for the Festive Season, and gifted me the aforementioned board game. That’s when Lord Sandwich comes into play, as it were, since you can focus on the game -and this one needs your attention- better when eating a sarnie than something that requires a fork. But a sarnie can, and should, be a delicious affair as are those truly beautiful Luxury Goose Sandwiches! 

Ingredients (serves 2):

leftover Ruth’s Roast Goose, with plenty of meat on the carcass

4 strips smoked streaky bacon

4 large slices Soft White Bread

about 2 heaped tablespoons Honey-Fermented Carrot Jam

4 leaves fresh lettuce

2 fluffy sprigs fresh parsley

2 heaped tablespoon Apricot and Ginger Chutney 

Remove the Roast Goose from the refrigerator at least one hour before you intend eating your sandwiches. It will allow the meat to warm a bit and become more tender, as goose meat tends to be tougher when cold. 

Then, with a sharp knife carve the Roast Goose, cutting, preferably from the breast, thin slices, as much as you wish!

In a medium, nonstick frying pan, fry bacon strips over medium-high heat, about 2 minutes on each side until well-browned (but not crispy.) Remove from the heat.

Toast Soft White Bread slices. Place one on each serving plate, and generously spoon Honey-Fermented Carrot Jam onto each. Top with lettuce leaves,  Pile up Roast Goose and bacon rashers on top. Sprinkle  with parsley leaves. Spread a heaped tablespoon Apricot and Ginger Chutney onto each of remaining toasted White Bread slices and place on top of the sandwiches, pressing slightly. Cut both of the sandwiches in half.