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Date Sandwich Filling
2 cups pitted dates 4 teaspoons orange juice Wash dates well, put through the meat chopper, then stir in orange juice.
A two-ingredient spread that depends entirely on the dates themselves. The only real decision is how far you grind it.
- Meat chopperA hand-cranked grinder; the recipe does not say which plate. A food processor pulsed in short bursts does the same job; run it continuously and you get a smooth paste rather than a nubbly texture.
- Washing the datesWorth doing with older bulk dates, which arrived dusty and often pressed into blocks. Modern packaged pitted dates are clean; a rinse and thorough pat dry is enough, and excess water will thin the filling.
- Check for pitsEven bagged "pitted" dates carry the occasional stone or fragment. Split each one open before grinding rather than trusting the bag.
- Dry datesIf the dates are hard, soak them in hot water for ten minutes and drain well before grinding. Deglet Noor are firm and take grinding cleanly; Medjool are wetter and sweeter and will need less juice.
- Orange juiceFour teaspoons is barely more than a tablespoon, a moistening agent rather than a flavour. Add it a teaspoon at a time and stop when the mass holds together and spreads without tearing bread.
- YieldTwo cups of dates grinds down to a somewhat smaller volume of stiff paste; enough for a modest batch of sandwiches, though the recipe gives no yield.
- KeepingRefrigerate in a covered jar and use within a week. The surface darkens and dries; stir before spreading.
- ServingThe filling is stiff and very sweet, so it suits soft brown or nut bread, and it is improved by a thin layer of cream cheese or a scatter of chopped walnuts against the sweetness.