Watercress And Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
makes 6 sandwiches
This classic tea sandwich combination works well: the sweet cucumbers play against the peppery watercress, the butter and cream cheese add their own richness, and soft white bread keeps it all together. Figure on at least one sandwich per person.
12 slices thinly sliced white sandwich bread
6 teaspoons softened cream cheese
6 teaspoons softened unsalted butter
1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
1 bunch watercress, trimmed, rinsed and dried
prep: 10 minutes
total: 20 minutes
serrated knife
1. Put the bread in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to make it easier to trim the crusts. Bring the cream cheese and butter to room temperature to make it easier to spread.
2. Spread one teaspoon of butter on each of six slices of the bread. Spread one teaspoon of cream cheese on each of the remaining six slices of bread.
3. Thinly slice the cucumbers, and arrange them evenly on the six slices that you've spread with cream cheese. Season the cucumbers lightly with salt, and generously with freshly ground black pepper.
4. Top the cucumbers with a handful of watercress, then top with the buttered slices of bread. Press the sandwiches down with your hand, and cut off the crusts. Cut the sandwiches either into quarters, or in half diagonally.
