Summer Sandwich Series – Hot Smoked Salmon with a Lime Kelp Cucumber Pickle

Here is the next sandwich in my series, smoked salmon with a fresh zingy pickle to go with it. The sharp zesty pickle compliments the richness of the salmon. I hadn’t eaten hot smoked fish much until I moved to New Zealand but the Kiwis are mad on hot smoking and living out by the beach there always seems to be someone out catching or smoking fish. We are very lucky, we have very generous friends who often drop off a fish or two, sometimes raw, sometimes already smoked. In fact our old electric oven which we were about to throw away got converted into an outdoor smoker by our neighbour, it’s very effective and you have to love the Kiwi ingenuity of it.

The salmon for the sandwich was bought from the local farmers market, smoked with lime and a local Horopito leaf. The Horopito has a peppery taste to it and has been used by the Maori as a medicinal and culinary herb for centuries.

Ingredients for Cucumber Pickle
1 cucumber, peeled
1 tsp Lime Kelp Seasoning – Pacific Harvest
1 inch fresh ginger, finely grated
Juice of one small lime
Handful coriander leaves, chopped
1tsp honey or brown sugar
Pinch of chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Use the peeling to peel the cucumber into ribbons.
Add all ingredients except cucumber to a bowl and combine.
Add cucumber ribbons and toss through dressing.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Assemble sandwiches immediately as you want the cucumber fresh and crisp
The rest of the sandwich is the hot smoke salmon and slices of avocado.

Summer Sarnie Series – Lamb Sausage with Mint & Coriander Balsamic Onions

A posh Butty is what we would call this in Liverpool and for those who have never heard the term Butty before it usually refers to two slices of bread and butter filled with chips and any decent takeaway from the chip shop would not be the same without it. Even though I love chip butties dripping with butter and malt vinegar they aren’t quite the same out of the UK so when I opt for another sandwich it has to be a little more creative.

Hubby thinks this summer series of sandwiches/buttie/sarnies is a great idea, although perhaps not as impressed with the waiting around while I style and shoot them first but I’m getting a lot quicker now I have converted our spare room into my studio. I wanted to challenge myself with photographing what I consider quite a difficult subject, sandwiches don’t always look that great in pics and meat even worse.

To make the posh butty I have used the best lamb sausages I could get hold of and a few slices of sour dough bread. Caramelized onions with balsamic and two herbs. I’m sure Scouser would approve of me straying away from the chip butty if I served them this one (Scouser is a term for someone coming from Liverpool)

Ingredients for balsamic onions
1 onion, sliced
Dash of olive oil
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
1tbsp soy sauce
Generous handful of fresh mint and coriander, chopped

Method
Place the olive oil and onion in a frying pan and sauté on a low heat for 5 minutes.
Add the balsamic and soy and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the herbs and use immediately.
Toast your bread then butter it, add a layer of onions, place the cooked sausages ontop of the onions, add another slice of toasted buttered bread and enjoy!