We vacationed in the Baltic Sea region a few years ago and Copenhagen was one of the highlights of the trip. We lunched one day in the Nyhavn district of Copenhagen. According to Wikipedia, Nyhavn is a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly colored 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. Serving as a “heritage harbour”, the canal has many historical wooden ships.
Many waterfront restaurants line the canal in Nyhavn and host a bustling crowd of tourists as well as locals. The smørrebrød, a classic Danish open-faced sandwich, is the specialty of most of these restaurants. I’ll never forget our lunch in Nyhavn overlooking the canal on a beautiful sunny day. We had smørrebrød topped with smoked salmon, shrimp, and a delicious herbed mayonnaise. Those memories of that day inspired today’s post.
The classic smørrebrød is served on a dark, sourdough rye bread with a variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables. I would love to learn to make this bread, but for this post Trader Joe’s whole wheat sourdough is a good substitute. High quality sliced ham, sun-dried tomato mayo, lightly blanched asparagus, and gruyere cheese make up the Southern Boy Dishes version of a smørrebrød.
Ingredients
4 slices whole grain bread
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup sun-dried tomatoes
3/4 lb Black Forest ham
20 asparagus spears
1 to 1 1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese
Instructions
1. Heat oven on broil mode.
2. Put mayonnaise and sun-dried tomatoes in bowl of food processor and process until blended.
3. Trim asparagus and blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
4. Remove from water and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
5. Spread butter on one side of each piece of bread.
6. Broil bread slices with butter side up until slightly browned.
7. Spread mayonnaise on unbuttered side of bread.
8. Divide ham into 4 portions and place on each bread slice.
9. Place 5 spears of asparagus on each sandwich.
10. Top each sandwich with 1/4 cup cheese.
11. Broil sandwiches for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browning.
12. Serve immediately.
https://southernboydishes.com/2012/11/15/ham-asparagus-and-gruyere-open-faced-sandwich/
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I think I’ll demonstrate this recipe in my Junior High “Foods” class as a demonstration of “Broiler safety”!
Going to make this afternoon, looking forward to it. I love Paula Deens also.
I not a big sandwich person but I do love open-faced and this one looks delicious. Anything with Black Forrest Ham – bring it on!!! Thanks for sharing your trip in this sandwich!
I love everything about this recipe. Black Forest Ham is my favorite. As is asparagus and Gruyere and sun-dried tomatoes. I have to pin this one, for a weekend lunch. So simple, but lots of layers of flavors!