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Nut Sandwiches
Chop or grind equal parts of peanuts, English walnuts, and pecans; mix well, with plenty of salt; mix with enough softened butter or thick, rich cream to bind together, add a dash of paprika, and spread between thin slices of entire wheat or brown bread. Either of these nuts may be used alone if preferred or more convenient.
A simple nut butter spread from the era when sandwich fillings were built at home from whole ingredients. A few terms and proportions need translating.
- Entire wheat bread"Entire wheat" is whole wheat, milled with the bran and germ retained. Any dense whole-wheat or brown loaf works; sliced thin, as directed, so the filling dominates.
- English walnutsThe ordinary walnut sold today. The qualifier distinguished it from the black walnut, then common in American yards and much stronger in flavor.
- Chop or grindA food processor pulsed in short bursts gives the coarse, gritty texture intended. Run it too long and the nuts release oil and turn into nut butter, which spreads but loses the point.
- Toast the nuts firstToasting (optional) -- The recipe does not call for it, but shop-bought nutmeats may be flat-tasting; five to eight minutes in a 350F oven, then cooled, will freshen the flavor.
- Butter or cream as binderSoftened butter is the more reliable choice. "Thick, rich cream" meant something closer to modern heavy cream at high butterfat; a sandwich bound with cream should be eaten the same day, as it will not keep.
- Salt"Plenty of salt" assumes unsalted nuts. If yours are roasted and salted, add none until you have tasted the mixture.
- YieldThe recipe specifies no amounts, only equal parts of the nuts and enough binder to hold them. As a starting point, about a cup of nuts with two to three tablespoons of butter will fill six to eight thin sandwiches.