Category Archives: Open Faced Sandwiches

Open faced sandwiches are a Scandinavian tradition that has evolved into an artform. Enjoy colorful and tasty creations, and get wild with your ingredients.

Smoked Salmon Sandwich With Gralakssås, Dill, Grapes, Grape Tomatos And Black Caraway Seeds

When I was a kid I hated fish. My mother would cook cod and herring a lot, and I remember they were full of bones. Small tiny bones that just made it very uncomfortable to eat. In desperation, my mother promised to remove the bones, and offered me the equivalent of 10 cent for every bone I could find. She intended of course to make me believe her and eat the fish happily;  knowing she would never offer such a prize unless she was absolutely certain there was no bones to be found. Instead, I started eating ever slower, trying to locate any bones I could. As it turns out, herring and cod has a lot of very small bones the likes and sheer numbers my mother would never have imagined. What followed were the inevitable negotiations over what constitutes a bone, what size a bone has, and so on. I believe my mother thought for a few years after that I would turn into a banker or a lawyer, because I ended up with quite a bit of extra pocket money before the rules was abruptly terminated and fish not served on my plate for a long time. I think I was pretty spoiled, but we always did have fun!

I still am not very fond of neither herring nor cod, but salmon and tuna are fantastic fish. In this sandwich creation, the freshness of the grapes brings out a tiny bit of crunch and a delicious moisture that enhance the taste of the smoked salmon. Dill seems to be made for the occasion, and the sauce is a mustard sauce you may be able to get in your local IKEA.

Smoked salmon with gralakssaas, dill, grapes, grape tomatos and black caraway seeds
Smoked Salmon Sandwich With Gralakssås, Dill, Grapes, Grape Tomatos And Black Caraway Seeds

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Ham Sandwich with Danish Cheese, Tomato Vodka Mustard, Diced Onions, and Corn

A simple ham sandwich on dark rye bread, with melted cheese, onion and corn. The mustard gives it all a kick, and in retrospect perhaps we should have added a bit of freshly grated horseradish.  If anyone tries that, let us know how it works out in the comments. This sandwich is highly dependent on the quality of the ham, so don’t be stingy. This here is our Jamaican Christmas ham, which is cooked traditionally with pineapples and lots of cloves, and works brilliantly for sandwiches and pizzas. Since we come from Jamaica and Denmark, this sandwich could be considered a cultural merger.

Jamaican Christmas Ham with Danish Cheese, Tomato Vodka Mustard, Diced Onions, and Corn
Jamaican Christmas Ham with Danish Cheese, Tomato Vodka Mustard, Diced Onions, and Corn
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Ham and Chicken Sandwich with Jamaican Pineapple Ham, Buffalo Chicken, Valdeon Cheese, Caesar Dressing And Grape Tomatoes

The return of the 2009 Christmas ham is always joyful and filled with good memories. This time we unfroze a few slices for a sandwich, melt style (Meaning, lots of cheese on top). To meat-it-up, we also added some buffalo chicken from the local grocery store. Do you ever go through life, looking at the same thing over and over again, not really thinking about what it is, but still forming an opinion that sometimes turns into solid knowledge? This is the way I feel about Butterball buffalo chicken breast. I have seen it many times at the local grocery store, and never really given it a second glance. I knew, somehow, that this gigantic ball of chicken must be a chicken breast, after all that’s what it said on the package. Last week, I then decide to try it. As soon as I see the meat cut, I realize to my horror that obviously this is not a gigantic 10 pound chicken breast, but rather another conglomerate of pressed meats of unknown origin. I could have kicked myself, but the nice lady had sliced it already, so here it is.

Ham and Chicken Sandwich with Jamaican Pineapple Ham, Buffalo Chicken, Valdeon Cheese, Caesar dressing and Grape Tomatoes
Ham and Chicken Sandwich with Jamaican Pineapple Ham, Buffalo Chicken, Valdeon Cheese, Caesar dressing and Grape Tomatoes

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“Sloppy Pope” – Beef Patty With Feta, Chunky Chili And Parsley On Pandesal Bun

A typical Sloppy Joe consists of “ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun.” Well, we decided to make our own version of the Sloppy Joe, which we call the Sloppy Pope. We use a pandesal bun, a feta-beef-patty, and our own homemade chunky chili. To top if off and make it look real pretty, we add a little parsley. As for the name “sloppy pope?” Well, let’s just say it’s a long story…

Sloppy Joe Bonus Burger; feta-beef patty, with homemade chili and parsley on boleo bun
"Sloppy Pope" - Beef Patty With Feta, Chunky Chili And Parsley On Pandesal Bun

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Falafel Sandwich with Garlic-Yogurt Dressing, Lime, Pesto, Spinach and Grape Tomatoes on Ciabatta Bread with Pesto

While we do enjoy making falafels from scratch, it is a lot easier to buy them pre-made. So after an on-the-spur-of-the-moment shopping spree in the local grocery store, we found ourselves with a packet of falafels. They are quite acceptable in taste, a little wet in consistency (it’s not easy to preserve crunchiness after freezing), and overall a good experience. If you have fresh ones, by all means do use them, but for a Thursday sandwich without too much work involved, just get something like these. We find that falafel can be quite a nice change to a lot of dishes, such as salads or on sandwiches (like here).

Falaffel Sandwich with Garlic-Yogurt Dressing, Lime, Pesto, Spinach and Grape Tomatoes on Ciabatta Bread
Falafel Sandwich with Garlic-Yogurt Dressing, Lime, Pesto, Spinach and Grape Tomatoes on Ciabatta Bread

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Sandwich Recipe: “The Grey Lady” – Truffle Pâté On Dark Rye Bread With Ducks Fat, Roasted Garlic And Topped With Onions and Olive Oil

The most common sandwich in Denmark is probably the liver pâté Sandwich. Every school kid knows it, and often hates it due to the sometimes bare-bones minimum effort put into making it. This sandwich here we call “The Grey Lady”, and it’s a play on the traditional liver pâté ‘blah’ version – A serious upgrade if you will. It is not the most attractive sandwich, but it taste awesome.  One last upgrade we could still add is using goose liver pate, but we couldn’t find any locally so that will have to wait.

The Grey Lady: Truffel Pate on Dark Rye Bread with Ducks Fat, Topped With Onions and Olive Oil
The Grey Lady: Truffle Pate on Dark Rye Bread with Ducks Fat, Topped With Onions and Olive Oil

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Ham with Roasted Pineapple, Valdeon Cheese and Tomato Vodka Mustard On Dark Rye Bread

We just recently discovered the Spanish Valdeon cheese on an impulse buy from Trader Joe’s, and since then we’ve used it in several of our sandwiches. It’s not an overly strong blue-cheese, but not mild like Roquefort either. It sits comfortably in the middle of the spectrum, making it a great addition to sandwiches because it adds a lot of flavor without overpowering the other ingredients.

This sandwich is on freshly baked Danish rye bread, with our leftover Jamaican Christmas ham (oh soo good). The baked pineapple that’s included was actually baked with the original ham, but you can of course use a fresh one. Enjoy.

Ham with Roasted Pineapple, Valdeon Cheese and Tomato Vodka Mustard On Dark Rye Bread
Ham with Roasted Pineapple, Valdeon Cheese and Tomato Vodka Mustard On Dark Rye Bread

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Cardamom Crisp Roll with Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda, Raspberry Sauce and Rajma Masala

It was one of those day were we just wanted a simple snack. Luckilly we had some leftover raspberry sauce from our Christmas panna cotta desert (which was fantastic), so with a good cheese, some cardamom crisps, and a crazy idea of adding a touch of India, we came up with this. We really liked the pairings, the rajma masala brought out a little extra zing from the cardamom, almost making it stronger.

Cardamom Crisp Roll with Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda, Raspberry Sauce and Rajma Masala
Cardamom Crisp Roll with Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda, Raspberry Sauce and Rajma Masala

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Sandwich Recipe: Corned Beef On Olive-Rosemary Bread With Muffaletta, Parmesan And Pesto

We’ve never had corned beef before, but recently decided to give it a try. This is our first attempt, and while we are not quite happy with the look of this sandwich, it tasted great. This was of course also another reason to get out ye olde burner, to give the Parmesan on top a little color. The burner was a Christmas gift from a couple years ago, and besides making flan (which we have yet to do), its usefulness is being seriously challenged. However, it’s coolness is unquestioned.

Sandwich Recipe: Corned Beef On Olive-Rosemary Bread with Muffaletta, Parmesan and Pesto
Sandwich Recipe: Corned Beef On Olive-Rosemary Bread with Muffaletta, Parmesan and Pesto

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Shrimp Sandwich Recipe: Cilantro Lime Shrimp on Potato Rosemary Bread With Lettuce, Vodka-Mustard, Gravlakssås, Lemon and Dill

This sandwich is one of the many that can be created almost entirely from Costco. No, they don’t sponsor us.  We just like a lot of their foods (psst, Costco, if you read this, get in touch!!).   We particularly love it when they feature cheeses on the tasting floors. In fact, we get practically giddy like children in a candy store. This past weekend, we walked in and were greeted with the sign announcing “Cheese Tour”.   Now, this always puts us in a quandary as we struggle to justify the purchase of yet more cheese.  At any given time, our refrigerator is home to at least four different varieties of cheeses.  After this weekend’s purchase, we now have 7.  We are such cheese maniacs that we purchased Parmesan Reggiano even though we had a big block at home.  There is something just more intense about the flavors and textures of a freshly cut cheese.  The cheese guy was kind enough to yield to Wendie’s pleading that he cut her only the teeniest of pieces since this was to be eaten right away.  If you are familiar with the family (nay, restaurant) sized packages at Costco, you know how absolutely sweet it was of him to oblige her. 

So it was home to make the most elemental of sandwiches – potato rosemary bread with freshly cut Parmesan Regianno cheese. Yum. That was the appetizer which was quickly followed by another made with cilantro-lime shrimp, another Costco food that we have grown to love and find multiple applications for.

Large and succulent, they don’t need much else, so we try to limit the extras. On this particular sandwich, the most significant other ingredient is a small amount of mustard, so be very careful to measure that exactly, or it will completely overpower the taste of the shrimp.

Shrimp Sandwich On An Olive and Rosemary Loaf With Lettuce, Vodka-Mustard, Gravlakssås, Lemon and Dill
Shrimp Sandwich With Potato Rosemary Bread, Romaine Lettuce, Vodka-Mustard, Gravlakssås, Lemon and Dill

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