Tea Sandwiches

Happy Teacher’s day ! To all those wonderful teachers who made school a memorable journey, who saw us through from confused high school pass outs to college grads/post grads etc. and mostly to moms and dads who from our birth teach us everything that we are capable of doing today!

I keep thinking what special can I have on Pam’s cookbook to mark this day. What does school remind me of? Simple fun-filled carefree days… and that reminds me of bread sandwiches… something that was a constant in my school life. Yes, me and my brother for years (at least till high school) have carried bread for ‘tiffin’, all different kinds of bread sandwiches. Bread butter with sugar granules, bread butter with salt and pepper, aloo sandwich, cucumber sandwich and many more. I guess mom must have been really happy with us for we never complained, but as I look back I wonder if secretly we were not a little bored of it!

Tomato (Finger) Sandwich

Even now, I am just not capable of having a heavy breakfast early in the morning. Most of the times we are munching on bread with tea.So this post is about the most common breakfast or snack – Tea Sandwiches. I made Green Chutney sandwich, Cucumber Sandwich and Tomato Sandwich. Am sure there can be more additions / variations to this, but for today this is it.

For Chicken Sandwich – click here

Ingredients:

I made 6 sandwiches – 2 of each kinds – Green chutney, Tomato and Cucumber

• Bread (white or brown) – 2 slices for each kind, makes 2 sandwiches.
• Salt – optional
• Black Pepper – optional

For Green Chutney Sandwich: 

• Coriander Chutney – 3 tbsp
• Butter spread or cream cheese or mayonnaise – I used butter spread
• Cucumber, very thinly sliced – 5-6 slices

Green Chutney Sandwich

For Cucumber Sandwich:

• Butter spread or cream cheese or mayonnaise – I used butter spread
• Cucumber, very thinly sliced – 5-6 slices

Cucumber Sandwich

For Tomato Sandwich:

• Butter spread or cream cheese or mayonnaise – I used butter spread
• Tomato – very thinly sliced – 5-6 slices

Tomato (Finger) Sandwich

Method:

• Place the bread slices on the work surface. No need to toast them.
• Spread butter, cream cheese or mayonnaise on both the slices. For Green chutney sandwich either spread a second layer of coriander chutney on the buttered slices or mix the butter along with the green chutney in a separate bowl and then spread the mixture onto both the slices.
• Place the cucumber or tomato slices (do not overcrowd them) on one slice of bread.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper if required.
• Place the other slice on top of it, so that the buttered surface goes inside.
• Press it gently and using a sharp knife trim off the crusty edges on the four sides.
• Cut diagonally once for large triangle sandwiches or twice for smaller triangles. These smaller triangles work best with the kids. Alternately cut lengthwise once to get rectangular, also called finger sandwiches or twice to get smaller square-ish ones.
• Serve them with tea or coffee

Note:

• Using cold bread or refrigerating the bread before use makes it easier to trim off the edges smoothly.
• If making the sandwiches little ahead of time cover them with a damp kitchen towel. This keep the sandwiches fresh and moist.
• When serving different kinds of tea sandwiches it is better to have more than one shape, that helps in easily distinguishing one from the other.  I usually make triangle cucumber sandwiches and finger sandwiches with tomatoes. Can also use different shaped cookie cutters for other shapes, specially for kids-parties.

Green Chutney Sandwich

Scones

Scone is a small Scottish bread pronounced as rhyming with “con” and “John” or as in US as rhyming with “cone” and “Joan”.

I first thought of making it when my applesauce experiment turned out to be really nice and I needed an accompaniment with it. Somehow Scones seemed like the best option and voila… the combination turned out to be the perfect Friday late afternoon snack along with a cup of coffee. They looked and smelled so gorgeous and my whole house smelled like a bakery. I made almost 8 of them and they were so filling we had it for 2 days. Now I can think of making it very often because it is easy, needs minimum preparation and can be made with ingredients readily available at home. So next time I have friends or family staying overnight I do intend to make it for breakfast. However they can be made beforehand and stored for later use. Even the dough can be frozen and baked as and when required. I made a basic (or cream if fresh cream is used instead of milk) scone recipe, but you can also add blueberries or chocolate chips as variations to this.

So get started and fill your kitchen with the flavor of fresh baking.

Ingredients:

• Flour – 2 cups
• Sugar – 1/4 cup or 50 gms (approx)
• Baking powder – 2 tsp
• Salt – 1/4 tsp
• Cold butter – 5 tbsp or 75 gms
• Egg – 1
• Vanilla – 1 tsp
• Milk / Half & Half or Cream – a little less than 1/2 cup.
• Flour – for sprinkling
• Egg wash (mixture of egg with milk) or milk or cream – for glazing

Method:

• Preheat oven to 375 F with the oven rack in the middle. Line a baking tray or cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease it lightly.
• In a bowl whisk together sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Cut the cold butter into small pieces and blend it into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives or with fingertips. Alternatively (and that is precisely what I did) grate the cold butter using a sharp grater with large holes and blend it with the flour mixture with fingers. Mix well till it looks like coarse crumbs.
• In a separate bowl mix together milk or half & half or cream with well beaten egg and vanilla.
• Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix lightly till combined. Handle the dough lightly, do not over mix, do not knead the dough as done in a bread.
• Sprinkle some flour on the work surface or kitchen slab and transfer the dough to it.
• Pat it into a 1 inch thick round. If the dough is too sticky sprinkle some more flour on it.
• Scones can be of various shapes. For round – use a lightly floured cookie cutter and cut the dough into rounds. Gather the remaining dough, reform into a circle and cut again. For wedges/triangles (I did not have a cookie cutter so I preferred the wedges) – Using a knife cut the round dough into 8 equal triangles.
• Place the cut rounds or wedges onto the lined baking sheet spacing each a few inches apart.
• Brush the top of the scones with egg wash or milk or cream with a pastry brush. Since I did not have one I used a spoon to do so. This process is called ‘glazing’ and it helps the tops to brown while baking.
• Bake them in the preheated oven at 375 F for 15-18 mins. Mine took almost 12 mins to bake. Oven temperature and time may vary so adjust accordingly. The scones are done when a tooth pick inserted into the scone come out clean.
• Once done, remove and transfer to a cooling rack or dish towel to cool down.
• Serve them warm with cream or butter or jams.

Scones are best eaten fresh but also can be covered and stored for later use or can also be frozen.

Plain Paratha

Paratha – made so often at Indian households for breakfast or meals can be eaten with almost anything. They are also made with lots of variations and each one is as delicious as the other. They can be made either with whole wheat flour (atta) or all purpose flour (maida).  Best ones are the stuffed parathas but me and BBC  just love the simple plain ones. Often to enhance the flavor I add some carom seeds to it. My childhood memories are full of triangular shaped parathas but I feel comfortable making the round ones.

I wonder sometimes why all deep fried and oily food are so irresistible….! I guess you can choose to forget the parathas captivate you … 🙂

Ingredients:

• Flour all purpose or whole wheat (maida or atta) – 2 cups
• Salt – 1/2 tsp
• Carom seeds – 1/2 to 1 tsp (optional)
• Oil/ghee
• Water – as required

Method:

• Add salt, carom seeds and 1 tbsp of oil to the flour.
• Add sufficient water and knead it into a smooth dough. Always add water in turns so that you have the right quantity (neither too little nor too  much). Adding lukewarm water makes the parathas soft.
• Cover it with a wet cloth and keep aside for 15 – 20 minutes. Though this step is optional it makes the dough softer. Knead the dough once again before rolling the parathas.
• Divide the dough into equal golf-sized balls and roll each one into thin circles. To make triangular parathas, fold the circle into half and then another fold into quarter and roll out into a triangle.
• Heat a pan and place a paratha and cook for a minute.
• Flip and apply oil/ghee (a little at a time).
• Cook for a minute, flip again and apply oil/ghee.
• Cook till both the sides are golden. Serve hot.