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Caviar Sandwich
![Caviar Sandwich](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/12/23/magazine/23mag-Eat-image1/23mag-Eat-image1-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ½cup crème fraîche
- 3scallions, thinly slivered on the bias, about 4 tablespoons
- ¼teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- 3eggs
- 8slices white sandwich bread, preferably Pepperidge Farm “Very Thin”
- 2 to 3tablespoons soft butter
- 2ounces caviar
- 2tablespoons chives, minced
Preparation
For Scallion Crème Fraîche
- Step 1
In a small bowl, mix the crème fraîche, scallions, black pepper and kosher salt. Stir aggressively with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are fully incorporated and the crème fraîche is smooth and spreadable. Set aside.
For Soft Hard-boiled Eggs
- Step 2
Bring a small pot of water to boil over medium-high heat. Carefully lower your eggs into the boiling water using a slotted spoon, taking care not to crack the shells. Cook the eggs for 7 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to maintain a gentle boil. Remove eggs to a bowl of ice water, and cool completely. Gently crack eggs all over, peel and roughly chop. Set aside.
To Assemble
- Step 3
Toast white bread until light golden brown. Remove from toaster, and butter each slice, as we say, wall to wall.
- Step 4
Repeat with the scallion crème fraîche so that both halves of each sandwich have an even schmear.
- Step 5
Spread an even layer of chopped egg on 4 slices (of the total of 8 slices) of toast.
- Step 6
Evenly dot the caviar on top of the chopped egg.
- Step 7
Sprinkle chives on top of the caviar.
- Step 8
Place the remaining 4 slices of crème-fraîche toast on top of the egg-caviar side. Press down very gently, and slice in half on the bias. Serve at once.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
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!
This was a stunning appetizer to serve with champagne. We used brioche and made the sandwiches open face. Forgot to put the chives on top and it was still wonderful. Can’t wait to make this again!
The caviar sandwich has been a New Year's Eve must-have for me, ever since I first read the recipe (and article) in 2018. The very-thin bread is the perfect vehicle for all the luscious ingredients. I like the open-face approach a little more than the 2-slice version, because that great flavor combination takes the spotlight. And, I get to reward myself with another open-face sandwich without the guilt of too many carbs! (Keto diet is still part of my life.)
Tasted great, but cutting without squishing is a challenge. Next time I would first cut the top slice, then put the cut halves atop the bottom slice, making an open channel to cut the bottom slice without squishing.
Tasted great, but messy. Next time I would slice the top piece before putting it atop the bottom piece, providing an open channel to make the second cut cleanly, without squishing out the filling. Eggs need longer than seven minutes to cook, unless you want runny yolks.
I adore this. It doesn't work so well as a sandwich: the ingredients don't stay inside. Definitely serve it open face, and you can taste the caviar more that way. Regardless, it's a messy sandwich to eat; that's part of what makes it so great. You'll be licking egg and caviar from your fingers. A decadent mess for special occasions. (to cut down on the oniony quality, i salt the scallions and let them sit awhile before adding the crème fraîche, and i skip the chives.)
I just love spicy caviar, I don't buy it often, but when I order it I take it from Lemberg, the incredible quality and the price is nicer than from the others.
I thought that both scallions and chives made it too "onion-y". I think next time I'll skip the scallions and stir the chives into the creme fraiche instead.
The Times did a great article about caviar grilled cheese for a special family New Year meal- loved the idea but never made it until I came across very reasonably priced caviar one day. We have made the caviar grilled cheese many times since then and my family really enjoys it but it's not my favorite. THIS recipe, however, for a caviar sandwich with scallion creme fraiche and chopped hard-boiled egg is AMAZING. I love it and it will become a recurring weeknight dinner because it's so easy!
eggs cook 9 mins at altitude. can use a combo of cream cheese sour cream or yogurt for creme fraiche
This was great! New Years day brunch we served open face cut into 1/4s like toast points.
Had the caviar, scallions and toast. Improvised creme fraiche with Meredith Dairy sheep and goat's milk cheese (a little salty) and milk to get 1/2 cup in recipe. Eliminated the extra salt in recipe to balance saltiness of cheese. It was fabulous! Can't wait to make it again.
This is divine! I too, did open face because I am a pig.
Haha. We made both ways. "Divine" is right!
Make exactly as written you won’t be disappointed.
Sarah Murphy, the whole point is to have something tender, sweet (to complement the salty roe), and slightly bland as a substrate so you can still taste and feel the sensation of the caviar. Caviar is lost against country loaf or rye. This is why blini are a popular accompaniment: tender, sweet and bland.
Remove crusts!!
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