At the word “sandwich”, many imagine a piece of bread, buttered with butter, on top of which lies a piece of sausage. However, the creation of a variety of sandwiches is a whole art that is not difficult, but necessary to learn. It is now fashionable to organize parties with a light buffet table on which sandwiches for appetizer are located. Guests come to the table and choose the option they like. They are stacked on a tray, or on multi-level plates in rows, or fan-shaped. Differences are created not only in the form of sliced bread, but also in the variety of fillings and originality of design.
In the article, we will consider how to make sandwiches so that they look spectacular and festive. We introduce the reader to several delicious toppings, how to cook regular and hot sandwiches. We will pay special attention to decorating and effectively serving them to the table for every day, for a children's party or for an adult party.
Design Ideas
The shape of the sandwiches for a snack depends on how the bread is sliced. It can be rectangular triangles, rectangles, square or curly pieces, cut out with a special mold, for example, a heart, flower or rhombus.
To keep the ingredients on the bread, you need to grease it with either oil or sauce, or apply a soft filling.
For breakfast or a family dinner, you can make simple sandwiches in a hurry, and for the festive feast, try to create something special, spend time not only on making a delicious dish, but also visually interesting. Sandwiches look beautiful with different colors, for example, yellow cheese, pink meat or bacon, a green leaf of lettuce, black olives, sliced in circles, etc.
There are sandwiches open and closed with a second piece of bread. In this design option, it is best to use very thin slices. In any case, it should be convenient for a person to bite off a piece. Often, for the preparation of sandwiches - open, closed, snack bars - bread without a crust is taken. It is cut with a sharp knife, leaving only the crumb. Then they turn out more tender.
How to serve sandwiches?
If you put small canapes on a common dish, then it is advisable to arrange them with alternating colors and snacks. For example, lay out triangular sandwiches first with corners in the center or with a fan. Lay out rectangular items at the edges of the tray. If the filling allows, then they can be stacked vertically, putting in rows one to the other. Sometimes, for a large company, sandwiches are laid out in pyramids, exposing them one on top of the other.
If you have multi-level plates, then in this case they expose finished products in a circle, starting from the middle of the plate. If on the sandwiches there are decorative details on top, for example, half a tomato or olives cut into thin slices, then they are laid out only in one row so as not to disturb the decor pattern.
Sandwiches for a child’s birthday must be interesting to decorate. Firstly, most guys should like the filling. Secondly, there should be no products that can cause an allergic reaction in any guest. Thirdly, come up with a fun design by making figures of insects or characters of popular fairy tales or cartoons.
Pay attention to the combination of colors on the dish. If the sandwiches are closed and made of white bread, add bright accent points on top, laying on them slices of sweet pepper or olives with filling. You can also put between the sandwiches another snack of saturated colors, for example, stuffed tomatoes.
Cuban appetizer
These are hearty meat and slightly spicy sandwiches that are perfect for strong drinks in the winter. Cook boiled or fried pork, thinly sliced ham, pickled cucumbers, sauce. How to make sandwiches? The main work is preparatory. You need to boil lean pig meat, you can use tenderloin. Before cooking sandwiches, be sure to let the meat cool, otherwise it will crumble under the knife. You can fry the meat in a pan and cut into thin chips.
Pick cucumbers not too acidic and use a curly wavy knife for cutting. You can thinly chop the ham yourself or buy it ready-made in the package.
To prepare the sauce, mix 2 tbsp. l mayonnaise with 1 tbsp. l mustard. Choose not very sharp, otherwise the sandwiches will be fiery. A thin piece of bread is smeared with sauce, a piece of ham bent in half is placed on top, then the meat is sliced in a thin layer and the product is decorated with a corrugated circle of cucumber.
Option with red fish
Slices of dark rye bread are used for a fish snack. To make sandwiches for your birthday you will need:
- Creamy soft cheese.
- Thinly sliced salted salmon or salmon.
- Rings of red sweet onion.
- Fresh lettuce leaves.
- Small pieces of pickled cucumbers.
- Olives on a toothpick as a decoration.
So how to make fish sandwiches? Since the products are closed, cut two slices of dark bread for each snack and spread them with cream cheese. Then finely chopped cucumber circles are placed on the bottom piece.
The next layer is laid on the flesh of salmon and onion rings. Layering layers with greens of lettuce leaves and repeat laying in the reverse order, covering the last layer with a piece of bread. To decorate sandwiches, string green olive onto a toothpick and stick it in the upper slice of bread. Such a sandwich can be put on a family dinner or on a festive table. It looks bright and spectacular, as several contrasting colors are combined in one snack.
Herring on brown bread
A delicious sandwich with herring is loved by everyone. This is a great snack for strong drinks, which can be done for both households and friends who suddenly come to visit. Black “Borodino” bread, which is sold in small “bricks”, goes well with herring. It is most convenient to cut it into squares. Spread a thick layer of butter on top of the bread.
Lay the portioned pieces of herring on top, after removing all the skins and bones. You can sprinkle a sandwich with both green onions and onions. It is only advisable to pre-chop the chopped onion rings with boiling water so that all the bitterness comes out. Some housewives pickle onions, pouring it with water and adding a pinch of sugar and vinegar. It should stand for 10 minutes, and then can be used to make sandwiches. On top of each piece of bread, place one sprig of dill and you can serve it to the guests on the table. You can believe that the snack will go away in a matter of minutes.
Holiday snacks
Not a single big holiday is complete without sandwiches with caviar and butter. Despite the high cost, each hostess tries for her loved ones to make such a delicious snack. Everyone loves caviar, even those guests who don’t eat fish at all. In addition, it is a very useful product that contains a huge amount of vitamins and minerals. They are necessary for the human body, especially in the winter and spring season, when their lack is acutely felt.
For sandwiches, both with black and red caviar, only white bread is used. It can be a fresh thin baguette with a crispy crust or toaster bread, which is cut into triangles. A thick layer of butter is smeared on the slices and caviar is laid on top with a spoon. It is desirable that it covers the entire surface of the bread. For decorating snacks use a sprig of greens. It can be parsley or dill, if desired.
Sandwich Filling
Let's look at how to make sandwiches with separately prepared filling. There are several wonderful and delicious recipes that hostesses use to prepare dishes for the holidays and special events.
- "Original appetizer." It will take three processed cheese "Friendship", 2 cloves of garlic and mayonnaise. Cheese must be grated. If it does not rub, but spreads, do not worry, just put it in the freezer for several minutes. This will be enough to quickly and easily rub it. Then use the garlic to chop a couple of cloves of garlic. If you like more sharply, then add another clove. Then put a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise in a bowl and mix everything thoroughly. You can serve the appetizer separately, but it also looks great on brown bread sandwiches. From above, you can put thin rings of black olives without stones as a decor.
- "Salad with carrots." How to cook sandwiches with such a filling? For such an appetizer, boil three hard boiled eggs, cool under cold water and crush with a fork. Boil the carrots and grate. It remains to add mayonnaise, salt, pepper and mix thoroughly. To create such sandwiches, rye bread is also used. You can put pickled cucumbers in circles on top.
- "Salad with mackerel." For such an appetizer, buy a can of mackerel in oil, peel the fish from the bones and chop it with a fork. Then boil three to four eggs and after cooling, also grind, and mix with fish. You can optionally dice onions sweet varieties. Pour everything with mayonnaise and mix thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is formed. This appetizer is perfectly spread on pieces of bread. Sandwiches can be decorated with sprigs of dill or parsley.
- "Mix with tuna." You will need one tin can with tuna in oil, cream cheese (100 grams), two hard-boiled chicken eggs, green onions, and spices. If desired, you can add garlic. In a bowl, mix the boiled eggs crushed with a fork, and crush the tuna from the can in the same way. Add cream cheese and chopped green onions. The mixture needs to be salt and pepper. It will be tasty with garlic. For such sandwiches, it is best to lightly fry the bread in a frying pan without oil or on the grill on both sides, and only then spread the sandwiches with the prepared filling.
Sandwiches without bread
At the word “sandwich” we imagine bread with something on top, but there are options for snacks without it. This is useful for those who follow a diet and do not want to overload the body with flour products. As a basis for creating such an interesting option for sandwiches, you can take fresh cucumbers. The peel can be left, or you can clean it with a special knife. The inner juicy part is removed with a spoon or a scraper. It turns out a void in which you can put the filling. For example, you can use lean ham folded in several layers and soft cheese to hold parts of a cucumber together. In the middle, you can finely chop green onions. This vitamin sandwich can be given to the child when the first cucumbers appear.
Sandwiches of this type can be made using different products, for example, wrap the filling in cabbage or salad leaves, or vice versa, hide greens and vegetables in a piece of ham or thinly sliced chicken breast. Fine sandwiches are obtained only from vegetables, for example, put a slice of cucumber, onion, lettuce leaf on a circle of tomato and cover with one more piece of tomato.
There are even hot sandwiches without bread. For example, lay the stewed mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, and lettuce on fried strips of eggplant or zucchini. Cover everything with a second strip of eggplant and serve warm.
Hot snack
For breakfast or dinner, all family members will be very happy with hot sandwiches with sausage and cheese, the recipe of which, for sure, is familiar to many. Bread can be used both black and white. Buy a toaster immediately, cut into equal squares in advance. On top of each piece, apply a layer of butter or spread it with mayonnaise (it will be juicier), put the cooked sausage sliced in circles, cover with thin rings of lettuce and onion.
It is advisable to take sweet varieties, for example, Crimean red. Then spread the tomato slices over the entire breadth and sprinkle everything on top with grated hard cheese. Choose your favorite variety. At the end, you can sprinkle everything with black pepper or your favorite spice, such as turmeric or coriander. When all the sandwiches are ready, put them in a horizontal toaster or simple oven. Cook before spreading the cheese over the bread. Serve these sandwiches hot.
Croutons with garlic sauce
For breakfast, you can prepare fragrant croutons for your family. You will need two eggs, a baguette, salt, pepper, hard cheese, dill, mayonnaise and garlic. The recipe consists of two cooking steps:
- Cut the baguette into equal pieces, dip them in a whipped egg mixture with salt and pepper. Fry on both sides.
- In a separate bowl, mix grated hard cheese, squeezed garlic (to taste) and chopped dill. Add a spoonful of mayonnaise and mix all the constituent ingredients a second time. Cooked pasta is placed on toast and put in a preheated oven for 7 minutes.
It makes excellent crunchy croutons with melted cheese. Hearty, tasty and pretty fast.
Hamburger
All adults are well aware that eating fast food is very harmful to the stomach, but it’s hard for children to explain. They want a burger like at McDonalds. So let's make them your favorite sandwich at home. To create such an appetizer, we need the following products:
- Pork or beef cutlet. Give it a distinctive round shape during frying.
- Special unsweetened sandwich bun of the same shape.
- Thin slice of cheese.
- Finely chopped pickled cucumbers.
- Ketchup or sweet mustard.
- Lettuce leaf.
- Sweet onion rings.
First cook the usual cutlets, just give them the shape you want for a hamburger. When it cools, cut the loaf in half lengthwise and begin to lay the components of the sandwich. Spread the lower part with the chosen sauce, put the patty on top, a slice of cheese on it, scribble onion and cucumber rings, cover everything with a lettuce and close the sandwich with the second part of the bun. Before serving, lightly heat it in the oven.
Dressing
In addition to the fact that sandwiches should be tasty, be sure to pay special attention to their decoration. Even simple sandwiches on the festive table can be decorated with imagination. To do this, use circles of cucumbers, olives, olives, halves of cherry tomatoes, sprigs of greenery. For children's holidays, take the trouble to make figures from vegetables or fruits, for example, a ladybug, as in the photo in the article.
Let's look at some of the most popular ways to decorate sandwiches:
- A sprig of greenery. Both dill and several parsley leaves are used.
- Beautiful laying out the ingredients on a piece of bread. This is suitable for mixed fillings, for example, put a pattern of red and black caviar on one piece of bread. You can divide the surface in half, or you can make beautiful bends.
- Weaving thin stripes, like in a basket. This is suitable for solid ingredients, such as slicing cheese and sausage. The second layer is laid out with transmission in a checkerboard pattern across the previous one.
- Inlay. This arrangement is in a pasty layer of the main filling of inclusions of solid particles of a contrasting color, for example, small pieces of red fish or caviar, pieces of black olives or red lettuce are added to a white cheese paste.
In conclusion, it is worth adding that you need to use only fresh products for sandwiches, and prepare snacks just before the guests arrive. Making sandwiches is easy; the main thing is to add a little imagination.