Tea Room Tales & Tidbits
Table of Contents
Tea Sandwiches
Sometimes we feel it is necessary to change things up; however, I made a big mistake when I took these off the menu. Not only did it upset Ron (our quality control check guy) and Dona (his wife and our in-house Duchess) but the rest of our customers were also disappointed. Even worse - it made Jordanne cry. Guilt struck, I put them back on the menu. The balance of happiness and satisfaction returned to the tearoom.
This recipe makes two tea rings, with roughly 12 slices in each. We did experiment with substituting turkey, ham, chicken and beef but the pastrami gave us the best flavour. We discovered that changing cheeses, adding fruit or cinnamon bun filling was not only fun but also very tasty. Many of the variations were served at our Special Tea Luncheons. We often take these to dinner parties and eat the cinnamon version for breakfast on Christmas morning.
- 1 recipe Honey Oat Bread
- 1 lb pastrami, sliced
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
- 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 cup Greek dressing
- Make bread dough according to usual instructions.
- After the bread has risen for the second time, punch it down and cut the dough in half.
- Place remaining ingredients into a large bowl and cut together using two knives to mix well forming a crumbly mixture.
- Form two 9 inch logs with the dough and place one at a time on a flour-dusted countertop.
- Roll out the first log into a flat rectangle that measures roughly 8x12 inches (the size of a sheet of paper).
- Spread half of the pastrami mixture over the surface of the dough leaving a 2-inch space at the far side of the rectangle.
- Carefully roll up into a log.
- Dampen the edges with milk to encourage a sealed seam.
- Curl log into a wreath, dampen edges with milk to join in the ends.
- Cut with a sharp knife most of the way through leaving about 1 inch attached in the centre of the ring.
- Turn wedges slightly to show the inside of the mixture.
- Let rise for about 45 minutes.
- Bake on cookie sheet on parchment paper in preheated 350 F oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from sheet immediately after baking and place on a cooling rack to stop the bread from sweating (steam changes the bottom of the bread into a wet mush if it can't escape).
Makes 2 tea sandwich rings
