Every once in a while, the Southern husband goes where very few men have gone before him. He takes me to one of my favorite little spots,
an adorable little tea house nearby [1] that serves a real, honest to goodness English cream tea. Cream tea, for those of you who haven’t experienced the happiness of it, is when you get a pot of tea brewed from actual tea leaves, served with scones and clotted cream and jam, and some pastries…and tea sandwiches. All served in pretty china on flowery tablecloths with classical music in the background. Heaven on earth…especially the tea sandwich part.
Tea sandwiches are little adorable sandwiches, usually with the crusts cut off, and they come in all sorts of varieties. The cucumber versions are my favorites, although I manage to polish most of them off with no problem no matter what the filling is. Along with always being the only guy in the place, the Southern husband always trades me his cucumber sandwiches for whatever other kind I have, so I get double the cucumber happiness and he gets double Wonderful Southern Husband Bonus Points. So I figured the least I could do in return was to recreate the Ultimate Cucumber Tea Sandwich right in the comfort of our own home. Not that he minds being the only guy in the tea room, but this way he gets to watch the baseball game AND give me his extra sandwiches. Win-win!
And so this little sandwich was born. I cut up little squares of bread, and spread them with some soft creamy Brie cheese that I mixed up with a little chopped fresh dill. I popped a cool cucumber slice on top of the cheese, and then a slice of chilled shrimp on top of that. One more sprig of dill, and we were all set. A little plate of England, right there in my New Jersey living room (where just for the record, the Southern husband is also surrounded by females, including the dog).
(That’s the look we get when we are eating pretty much anything, tea sandwiches included.)
Now dust off your teapot and make yourself up some tea sandwiches! They’ll turn your ordinary lunchtime into something happily, easily elegant before you know it.
Shrimp, Brie and Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Ingredients
6 slices firm white bread, crusts cut off and cut into quarters
12 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, cooked, cooled and cut in half length-wise
24 thin slices of cucumber
8 ounces Brie cheese, rind removed and at room temperature
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
Directions
1. Mix brie with the minced dill, stirring until dill is mixed throughout the cheese.
2. Spread each bread square with cheese mixture.
3. Top each piece of bread with a cucumber round and a shrimp half.
4. Garnish with a piece of dill and serve on a pretty plate with a cup of tea. Feel very elegant.
2.2
Still Hungry?
Fresh Mint Tea [4] from Framed Cooks
Mocha Scones [5] from My Baking Addiction
Green Goddess Tea Sandwiches [6] from Joy The Baker