Tea Sandwiches

I'll admit that tea sandwiches sound a little high-maintenance. I personally don't love dainty food most of the time, but these tea sandwiches are wonderful to make for a crowd or a small picnic. The best part of these sandwiches is that there is no absolute recipe as to what you put in them -- I am just offering some suggestions here. You can play with breads, meats, vegetables, and condiments to your liking. Here I'll suggest a few combinations.

Breads

• Whole Wheat
• Pumpernickel
• Plain White Bread

Condiments (Spreads)

• Herb Cream Cheese (recipe follows)
• Unsalted Butter
• Herb compound butter (recipe follows)
• Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe found here)

Vegetables (Crunch)

• Arugula
• Boston Lettuce
• Thinly Sliced Radishes

Fillings

• Smoked Salmon
• Proscuitto or other quality ham
• Sliced heirloom tomato

Here's the drill --

Each of these major categories goes pretty well with any of the others, but some are better suited to one another. The idea here is to pick whatever is quality at the market and make the best ingredients sing for your guests.
For six guests, lay out 12 slices of your chosen bread on a clean counter. Spread a thin layer of your chosen condiment on each slice. Add your crunchy vegetable to half of the slices and your chosen filling to the other half of the slices.
Assemble the sandwiches, remove the crusts, and cut into triangles, rounds, or half-moons, depending on the shapes of the bread slices. Serve chilled.

Herb Compound Butter
Makes 1/4 cup of herb butter

• 1/2 stick softened, unsalted butter (4 oz.)
• 2 tsp finely chopped parsley
• 1 tsp finely chopped chives
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp finely ground white pepper

With a hand mixer or whisk, combine all ingredients thoroughly. Use immediately as a spread or chill into desired shape for serving later. Will keep fresh for about a week.