Caviar Sandwich

Too pretty to cover with the second slice of bread. Serve Scandinavian style, open. Caviar from Iceland is very good plus affordable.

I live miles away from a caviar source and it's too late to order online, so I'm thinking of utilizing the same ingredients but with diced smoked salmon and adding fresh dill. Won't be as luxurious, but I think it will work...

I smiled reading the specification for Pepperidge Farm bread. I was first exposed to Caviar about sixty years ago on Christmas eve by my mother, who served up a variant of this open faced with Beluga, chopped onion and a squeeze of lemon over PF (I prefer the version now labeled "original," not the "very thin." Better texture.) toast barely browned, slathered in butter and with the crust edges sliced off. It was a mind blower for my 12 year old taste buds. I've continued to make it this way.

Strongly recommend serving with an iced Champagne.

I tried as both an open sandwich and the closed version as shown in the photo. Both delicious but the open sandwich was preferred. It looks better, less bread and it avoids the problem of how to cut a filled sandwich without squashing the filling out.

The flavor would be even better with brioche bread. For a party, this would be excellent on puff pastry.

Using almost exactly the same ingredients but in different proportions I make what I grandly call Caviar Torte. 3 hard boiled eggs - chopped; 1/2 stick unsalted butter; 1 small onion - chopped; Creme Fraiche /Sour Cream; Caviar - as much as poss! Cook onion in butter til al dente. Cool a little and fold in eggs. Spread mixture into a 7" spring form pan. Chill - can be made a day ahead to this point. Just before serving, spread on cream, remove pan rim and top with caviar. Serve with thin toast.

Unsalted. Caviar is naturally salted, and typically butter processors make unsalted butter out of the better milk.

Champagne with caviar? Nyet! Vodka? Da!

I've not fixed this yet - BUT I'm so excited to see the recipe! I have a large Winter Solstice party every year and do all the food. One of my favorites is a Caviar Pie - diced hard boiled eggs on bottom, then chopped vidalias, then mixture of sour cream and cream cheese. The caviar all over the top! It's a crowd favorite and pretty on the table. One thing, this year I made 2 so had some left. THIS will be a delightful way to use what's left! Sign me, headed to the kitchen now!

I'd make this only with salmon roe--aka "red caviar"--not with anything even approximating fresh black caviar! Whether imported or domestic farmed, the latter is far too delicate to stand up to the scallions. I DO in fact use Pepperidge Farm VeryThin, but lightly toasted, spread with softened butter, eaten with a tiny tin of the best Osetra I can afford. Now THAT goes with champagne--Ms. Hamilton's calls for a Kaiser roll and Coors!

As the recipe notes, price is not a direct correlation with the quality of the caviar. There is domestically produced caviar on par with Russian sevruga available from a nonprofit corporation on the lower Yellowstone River that has been in business for 26 years. Their product has been served at the Watergate, on the Food Network and various New York City venues after the embargo on Russian caviar. Go to North Star Caviar.com

Love this but made a couple of changes - large eggs at 7 minutes too runny - did it for 8 and they came out nice and soft but not runny. Recipe calls for WAY too much kosher salt for a 1/2 cup creme fraiche - tasted creme fraiche and it was too salty even before adding caviar. Used rubber spatula "aggressively to stir" and it curdled. Did it over again and stirred ingredients normally - creme was already spreadable at room temp. Only added a pinch of salt to taste.

I've been making these for years with Beluga and good dark rye. Real Beluga from the Caspian Sea in very salty, so I skip the extra salt. I'm also addicted to duck eggs, which are tastier and more nutritious.

I will definitely do this. I already make devilled eggs topped with caviar; this just broadens the idea!