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To get you in the mood, here is a selection of my personal favourite fillings. There are two sources in Vancouver where I have purchased the square loaves of bread; Moore’s Bakery in Kerrisdale and Cobb’s Bread. You will need to pre-order a few days ahead. They may ask if you want double of single loaves & it will depend on how many you are planning to make. A single loaf will make approximately 6 or 7 sandwiches.
Note: I do not put lettuce in the sandwiches as they do not keep as well and I find that they have a tendency to not stay together when cut up. A bit of arugula would be nice in some of the fillings.
Cheese Pinwheels (Everyone seems to love these!)
Makes 6 (Approximately) Rolls
You will need 1single size loaf of square sandwich bread, sliced horizontally
1 container of McLaren’s Imperial cheese
4 oz. cream cheese
A pinch each of onion powder & garlic powder
1/8 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 roasted red pepper, cut into long, thin strips, blotted with paper towels until quite dry
A handful of chives or a few thin strips of green onions
1 small jar of pimento stuffed Manzanilla olives, blotted with paper towels until dry
1 bunch finely chopped parsley (the processor works very well)
Make the Filling:
Using a food processor or an electric mixer, combine the cheeses, onion & garlic powders & Worcestershire sauce. Process until smooth; remove to a bowl & set aside.
Trim the crusts from the bread. Using a rolling pin, roll over each slice of bread flattening it. Butter the bread. Spread with approximately 2 Tbsp. or so of the cheese mixture. With the short end of a slice of the cheese covered bread closest to you, lay about 5 olives at the edge. Place 3 pepper strips equally on the bread, then a piece of chive or green onion on either side of the pepper strip.
Roll the sandwich up tightly, place on a piece of plastic wrap, roll up & twist the ends. Continue with the remaining bread slices. Once all sandwiches are made place in the fridge until cold. I find these work out very well if made the day before.
When ready to begin assembling your sandwich tray remove the sandwiches from the fridge, unwrap & spread a light coating of very soft butter all over the outside of the roll, then roll the sandwich in the finely chopped parsley. Trim the ragged ends of each end of the roll then cut the roll into 4 slices.
Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwiches
I make these as triangles most of the time but they also look beautiful made open face on a round of bread and garnished with a sprig of watercress! So pretty! I found that plain cream cheese is kind of unexciting so I “corrected” the cream cheese. If local tomatoes are in season, I will thinly slice some, place them on paper towels so the juices can be absorbed and include them with the cucumbers. If you do this, you will not be able to make the sandwiches ahead as they will be soggy.
Make the Cream cheese Filling:
Makes Approximately 4 Sandwiches
8 slices of square sandwich bread
1 English cucumber
½ a 250 g. package cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. finely chopped chives or green onions
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1/8 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Few drops of Tabasco
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Unsalted butter, softened so that it spreads very easily
English cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise & placed on paper towels to absorb moisture.
Washed & dried watercress
Combine the cream cheese, chives, dill, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Tabasco & salt & pepper, using an electric mixer, until smooth (a processor tends to make the mixture on the runny side).
Butter the bread, spread with some of the cream cheese mixture on both sides, top 4 slices with cucumber & watercress; top each with the 2nd slice of bread. Place in the fridge for an hour to firm up the cream cheese so it will be easier to trim the crusts & cut the sandwich.
To Make Open Face Rounds:
Makes 18 – 24 Open Faced Sandwiches
You will need 1 or 2 loaves of square bread, sliced horizontally. Butter the bread slices, use a 2” biscuit cutter, cut out the rounds. Spread each with some of the cream cheese mixture, then top with thinly sliced rounds of English cucumber & top with a sprig of watercress.
**To make them even prettier, you could put a nice plump, cooked shrimp on top, then garnish with the watercress sprig & a small piece of chive tucked in.Curried Egg Sandwich Filling
Absolutely one of my all-time favourite egg sandwich fillings! The addition of curry powder adds a little something extra. Fancy sandwiches, I think, really need fillings that are “pumped” up a bit, to make them special.
Makes 6 Regular Sandwiches
12 slices of square bread, regular cut
6 large hardboiled eggs
2 tsp. minced green onions
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Mayonnaise (lite or regular)
Salt to taste
Unsalted butter, softened so that it’s very easy to spread
Make the Filling:
Place the eggs in a pot of cold water to cover & cover with a lid; bring the eggs to a boil & just as soon as it does; remove from the heat; allow to stand 10 – 12 minutes; drain & immediately fill the pot with cold water; drain the cold water & refill the pot again with very cold water; let the eggs stand until cold, then peel the eggs.
Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the eggs into a large bowl; add the onions, curry powder, Dijon mustard. Add enough mayonnaise to the mixture to bring it together but not too soft; otherwise the egg filling will ooze out of the sandwich when eaten. Cover & chill the filling until ready to make the sandwiches.
Make the Sandwiches:
Butter the bread; divide the egg filling among 6 of the bread slices; cover with the remaining slices & place on a wax paper lined rimmed baking sheet; cover with wax paper, then with a damp tea towel. Chill for at least one hour; remove from the fridge, trim the crusts & cut sandwiches into triangles.
Click here for Ham, Corned Beef & Roast Beef, Seafood & Fish and Chicken fillings.
