Smørrebrød

The Weight Watchers diet has gone well. It’s really the perfect solution for a foodie that needs to drop the pounds (and I'm down 20 so far). I can literally eat anything I please. And lately I’ve been in love with smørrebrød, beautiful open faced sandwiches that are the epitome of Danish cuisine.

Y’see, I ADORE bread, and frankly, am very unpleasant if I can’t eat it. I can easily do without the foods most people crave—sweets, salty snacks, etc.—because I tend to crave bread and fish. And Weight Watchers is a little harsh with points for bread. I also have learned that the more beautiful you make your food, the more you want to eat it, and the less you feel deprived. Hence pretty food= lose weight. Sooo, smørrebrød has become a good friend of mine.

Smørrebrød, literally means buttered bread. During the 1840s, Danish labourers and other employees had a lunch packed with different types of flat “Smørrebrød” which in their simplest form included slices of dense, dark rye bread smeared with butter or animal fat (was a moisture barrier), and topped with cold meats, smoked fish or leftovers from dinner the night before--just like an open-faced sandwich. Later, during the 1880s smørrebrød turned in to be a more sophisticated type of luncheon specialty. And the really high-falutin’ smørrebrød with delicious brown rye bread was served in restaurants with a variety of fresh, beautiful toppings. 

 

Yeah, I get a lot of info from these old things.

Smørrebrød were made beautifully and became an institution. In addition to having a regimented method of decorating the breads with toppings, smørrebrød also has a method of eating such delicacies. But I ignore some of that, since I’m at home and not in Denmark.

 

I happened to have avocado in the fridge and the other day I bought my first can of smoked trout at Trader Joe’s (man, I love that place). So this recipe, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sherried-sardine-toast-recipe/index.html , seemed like a natural jumping off point.

Alton's Smørrebrød

 Grab from the fridge

1 medium avocado (preferably Haas)

1 medium tomato

Your favorite mixed baby greens

Dispatch your avocado (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-1kj4t7DLA), and deposit all the flesh into a clean mixing bowl. Cheer that your heathen did dishes.

  

Dig in the fridge to find the old old old lemon languishing away in the fruit drawer (what DID you buy that for anyway?). Locate your microplane (or hand/cheese grater, it hits your knuckles every time you use it), and zest half of the lemon

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of  lemon zest

on top of the avocado. You can’t zest the dern thing after juicing it (trust me). Carve it’s now naked carcass and juice it to obtain

½ -1 tablespoon lemon juice

Fish around in the pantry (fish, get it? Hehehe. I haven’t had my tea yet this morning) and get out

             

1 can of oil packed smoked trout (or brisling sardines if ya want)

Open the can. Or attempt to. Realize that your lack of fingernails is hindering you and get a spoon to open the pull-top. Pray you don’t cut your knuckles (like you did that one time). Before the can is fully open, drain off the excess oil. I swear this tastes milder than that smelled. Flake and dump the trout into the bowl, 

and search through the drawer to find you kitchen shears. Get out a cup of water to heat for tea, you have to take a trip outside (Mind the lightning dogs at your feet! They’ll run you over!) and trim off about a handful of

           

Italian Parsley (cilantro is good too, if you’d rather)

Call the dogs in, have the dark one ignore you, and promise cookies. They like cookies. Watch your feet again as they race inside and to the kitchen. Give them each a cookie, and finely chop the parsley. Dump it in the bowl and squish everything together. Yeah, it looks gross, but it's yummy (and filling). Grab the pepper grinder. Salt and pepper the entire concoction to taste, and slice the tomato. Place the lettuce leaves, a scoop of trout mess, (this makes 2 hearty open faced sandwiches) and a couple of slices of tomato on a single slice of sourdough (I like a rustic country or a miche style loaf myself). Grab your tea, and smile.