I know what you’re thinking, what the heck is smørrebrød, right? Well, I had to look it up as well, but basically smørrebrød is quite simply a Danish open-faced sandwich, basically a sandwich that has bread on the bottom, but not on the top (btw, Zoe had to show me how to make those cool ø’s). We’ve all seen one of these sandwiches before, but who knew it had a special name right? I’m not sure how to pronounce it, so please don’t ask when you see me. So this was the sandwich that John saw in the recent issue of Bon Appetit and asked me to make along with the minty pea soup. It was his post-birthday week dinner, so I happily obliged, even though I’m not the biggest fan of peas. I have to say that this sandwich and the soup were a great combination and a great break from the normal grilled cheese and soup routine. They both paired together wonderfully, and it really was a nice and light spring time meal. Great job John!
If you love salmon, this is a great sandwich to try. It’s simple to prepare, full of flavor and everyone in the family raved about it. Zoe wasn’t a fan of the bread, but she loved it all topped on a bagel. The horseradish sour cream was tasty and not overpowering at all. Zoe and Eli really enjoyed it. The combination of smoked salmon, horseradish sour cream, fresh herbs and radishes was wonderful. This sandwich is perfect for an easy dinner, lunch or brunch, because it’s super easy to throw together and makes a beautiful presentation. Another bonus is that the horseradish sour cream can be made ahead of time, making it even simpler to serve up to your guests.
smørrebrød sandwich with smoked salmon:
recipe from bon appetit
serves 4
horseradish sour cream:
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish – You can either buy it fresh and finely grate and peel it yourself, or just do what we did and buy it already prepared. We used Bubbie’s prepared horseradish. You can find it in the refrigerated isle by the miso paste and vegan mayonnaise.
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- kosher salt and ground pepper – You can also use sea salt here, your choice
smoked salmon smørrebrød:
- 4 slices Danish rye or pumpernickel bread – We used Mestemacher Pumpernickel bread
- 8-ounces sliced smoked salmon
- 2 radishes – thinly sliced
- fresh dill for topping the sandwiches
- fresh parsley for topping the sandwiches
- optional – kosher salt and ground pepper – You can also use sea salt here as well. I didn’t add any additional salt or pepper to my smørrebrød sandwich, as I personally felt like it didn’t need any additional seasonings, but John added some to his.
First off, lets make up the horseradish sour cream. Wash and chop up your dill and parsley, squeeze your 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, and measure out your sour cream and horseradish.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, horseradish, dill, parsley and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. You can make this dressing ahead of time and refrigerate till needed.
Now, it’s time to prepare the smørrebrød sandwiches. Thinly slice up some radishes. Spread a layer of the horseradish sour cream onto your bread. Use as much or a little as you want.
Top it with the smoked salmon.
Top the salmon with some sliced radishes, parsley and dill leaves and salt and pepper to taste.
That’s seriously it! Pretty easy right?
Serve this sandwich up alone or alongside a green salad or springtime soup.
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish - You can either buy it fresh and finely grate and peel it yourself, or just do what we did and buy it already prepared. We used Bubbie's prepared horseradish. You can find it in the refrigerated isle by the miso paste and vegan mayonnaise.
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- kosher salt and ground pepper - You can also use sea salt here, your choice
- 4 slices Danish rye or pumpernickel bread - We used Mestemacher Pumpernickel bread
- 8-ounces sliced smoked salmon
- 2 radishes - thinly sliced
- fresh dill for topping the sandwiches
- fresh parsley for topping the sandwiches
- optional - kosher salt and ground pepper - You can also use sea salt here as well. I didn't add any additional salt or pepper to my smørrebrød sandwich, as I personally felt like it didn't need any additional seasonings, but John added some to his.
- First off, lets make up the horseradish sour cream. Wash and chop up your dill and parsley, squeeze your 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, and measure out your sour cream and horseradish.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, horseradish, dill, parsley and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. You can make this dressing ahead of time and refrigerate till needed.
- Now, it's time to prepare the smørrebrød sandwiches. Thinly slice up some radishes. Spread a layer of the horseradish sour cream onto your bread. Use as much or a little as you want.
- Top it with the smoked salmon.
- Top the salmon with some sliced radishes, parsley and dill leaves and salt and pepper to taste.
- That's seriously it! Pretty easy right?
- Serve this sandwich up alone or alongside a green salad or springtime soup.
so following you on instagram i should have remembered what this post was going to be but when i saw smorre..i instantly thought s’mores hahahahaha…. still no disappoint as we are huge salmon lovers….like you mentioned pairing with nice green salad sounds like the most lovely lunch sitting out back on my porch 🙂
Hi Angela! You know s’mores come to my mind whenever I type up the word smørrebrød as well, and you know what? I just posted a picture on Instagram of some frozen s’mores that I made tonight. I guess we just had s’mores on our minds 🙂
This might be a silly question, but I see a lot of recipes that ask for kosher salt. What is the difference between kosher salt and sea salt and regular table salt? Looks yummy- I’ll have to try it! – Jackie
Hi Seattle Jackie! I really don’t have the best answer to your question because I myself don’t really know the difference, so I’m providing a link that I found which explains a bit about different salts. I know that both kosher and sea salt do not contain Iodide and that table salt does. I never use standard table salt, because I feel that it’s just too salty tasting and too fine of a crystal.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/ask-the-food-lab-do-i-need-to-use-kosher-salt.html
So here’s what I use and when. When I bake anything I always just use kosher salt, because that’s what most baking recipes call for and that’s what Barefoot always uses. I use the Diamond Crystal one that comes in the little round red and black container. This salt is not coarse so the crystals are a bit smaller.
When I’m roasting veggies, I like to use the larger and coarser Morton Kosher salt. I think it’s easier to throw on roasted veggies because it’s a bit larger to handle and you can taste the crystals. I also use this salt in my butter mixture that I make for my crispy garlic bread.
When I’m making any sort of salad or dressing, I always just use sea salt. I love the Baleine fine crystals (blue container). I use this salt most often when a recipe just calls for standard salt.
I love the Baleine (red container) coarse sea salt when a recipe calls for coarse sea salt. I also use this one to top any sort of cookie or brownie. I don’t own any Maldon salt, so I use this salt when a recipe calls for Maldon salt.
I guess for the above recipe, you could use either sea salt or Kosher. The original recipe called for kosher, so I just used that, but I’m sure sea salt would be perfect as well. Just so you know, I used the finer crystals when making the horseradish sour cream. I bet the coarser crystals would be great for topping the sandwich though. I didn’t top my sandwich with salt though as I felt like it didn’t need it.
Ok, I hope I didn’t over explain (I tend to do that). Maybe I should just do a post on all of this one day! Great question though girl! 🙂 xoxo, Jackie
I need to purchase some kosher and sea salt! Thanks Jackie!
You’re so welcome girl! 🙂
Mmmmm I love smørrebrød, but then again, I am from Denmark 🙂
I was so surprised to read your title, I had to see what you had come up with;)
Hi Katja! So glad to hear that you actually already know what smørrebrød is and that you like it as well 🙂 I thought the title of the sandwich was catchy and unique, so I threw it in there. I would love to hear your what favorite smørrebrød sandwich is. xoxo, Jackie
looks beautiful! out of curiosity, I googled the pronunciation and found a file you can listen to here, in case you guys want to go around saying it to each other. 🙂 http://www.forvo.com/word/sm%C3%B8rrebr%C3%B8d/
Hi Diane! You’re totally cute and awesome. I love that you looked up the pronunciation! I just listened to it and I still don’t think I can say it properly. It sound like the guy is mumbling. Oh well! Glad I won’t be making a video on it. 🙂 xoxo, Jackie
Looks light and delicious! I was wondering how you made those little fancy o’s – haha, Jake has been my computer support at times too! These kids know their stuff. 🙂 I have a question about the salmon – is lox and thin sliced smoked salmon the same?
I’m not a big fan of peas either, but pea soups I can do. I think its the texture of the peas when they’re whole that I’m not crazy about. I’ll eat them if they’re buried in something, but not a whole spoonful. 🙂
Have a great day, it’s cloudy and gray here today. Hope your weather is clearing up! xoxo, Sharon
I tell ya, I don’t know what I would do without my little computer genius. Our kids are just so more advanced at this technical stuff then we will ever be. Zoe and I actually made a video today and I may post it on Thursday, it’s a total hoot and you will get a kick out of it because I’m actually speaking. Yes, me speaking and being a spaz!
So the answer to your salmon question is that lox is cured but not smoked, so that’s the difference between the two.
The pea soup is pretty good due to the fresh mint in it, so it’s not too pea tasting. Am I making any sense?
It finally got sunny and summer-like here today, so that made me happy! I was getting tired of June gloom. I hope our sunny weather heads up your way! xoxo, Jackie