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Salmon Sandwiches
Use cold boiled or canned salmon. Mince fine; add lemon juice and the yolks of 1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs to a cupful of the minced fish. Season with salt and cayenne. Spread thin slices of bread with the mixture and cover with another slice, either with or without the addition of a leaf of crisp lettuce or a few sprigs of watercress sprinkled with salt.
A straightforward mashed-salmon filling from the era when canned salmon was a pantry staple. The only real technique is getting the texture right.
- Bind it properlyThe hard-boiled yolks act as the binder, so mashing them to a paste with the lemon juice before the fish goes in gives a filling that holds together better than yolk crumbled in whole.
- QuantitiesA cupful of minced fish is roughly one 6-7 oz can, drained, or about 5 oz of cooked fillet. One to two yolks and about a tablespoon of lemon juice suit that amount; start with less lemon and taste.
- Canned salmon todayOlder canned salmon was packed with the skin and bones, both of which were mashed in; grades ran from red (sockeye) down to the cheaper pink. Modern skinless-boneless packs are drier, so a spoonful of the packing liquid or a little mayonnaise helps.
- CayenneThe recipe means a genuine pinch, enough to warm the filling rather than register as heat. Heat varies between brands, so measure by eye and err low.
- Drain and dryWet fish makes soggy bread. Press the salmon in a sieve, and if using watercress or lettuce, dry the leaves thoroughly before laying them on the bread.
- Bread"thin slices" points to a firm white loaf cut thin, crusts off if serving for tea. The recipe calls for no butter, though buttering the slices lightly helps seal them against the filling.
- YieldAbout enough for four sandwiches, or sixteen small tea sandwiches. Best assembled within an hour or two of serving; keep covered and chilled.