Over the
weekend, I had a little time to indulge in watching the food network, and found
a new cooking show that I absolutely love. It's called Southern at Heart, with Damaris Phillips who I guess won
the food network's next Food
Network Star.
Anyhow, she’s
the cutest little thing and she really got me when she started preparing Benedictine sandwiches, which is
a staple in Kentucky, but having never been to Kentucky, these were new to me. It's basically a yummy tea sandwich with cucumber and bacon.
In my family,
I am known for my cucumber and cream cheese open-faced tea sandwiches, which my
boys all love, but this recipe takes the cucumber sandwich to a whole new
level, with the addition of BACON!! omg, I had to make these!
I made it to
the market yesterday to buy all the ingredients and got down to business. One
of my boys even helped me grate and drain the cucumber, which only took a few
minutes. This recipe is very easy and cooking the bacon is the the most time
consuming part.
The sandwiches
come together very quickly. We opted out on the borage flowers, which boys
don't really care about anyways and substituted a little watercress and
arugula. This recipe is perfect for a tea party as Damaris showed, or just
a yummy lunch for the clan.
Borage, Benedictine and Bacon Sandwiches
Yield: 16 tea sandwiches
ingredients
8 strips bacon
1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 slices country wheat bread
2 cups fresh borage petals or microgreens or
baby arugula
Directions
Working in batches if necessary, cook the
bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy, about 10 minutes. Drain
on paper towels.
While the bacon is cooking, grate the cucumber
on the large holes of a box grater. Wrap the grated cucumber in cheesecloth and
squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible.
Combine the cream cheese and mayonnaise in a
stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until smooth, about 1 minute.
Add the cucumber and red onion and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Season
with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
To assemble the sandwiches, divide the cream
cheese mixture evenly between 4 slices of bread. Break the strips of bacon in
half and top each sandwich with 4 halves. Sprinkle the borage petals over the
top, then cover with the remaining four slices of bread and press down firmly.
Cut away the crusts. Slice the sandwiches diagonally in half and then
diagonally again, to make triangles. Serve.
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| Damaris and her cute friend Terra after preparing a scrumptious tea |
p.s the boys loved the Benedictine!
photo credit:
Damaris on Facebook
