Egg & Olive Sandwich

Egg & Olive Sandwich with Pickled Watermelon Rind

Summer’s soaring heat has already arrived here in Thailand so it’s timely to think about cooling it down in the kitchen with some easy summertime chilled favorites.

You can call me old fashioned, but what came to mind where a couple of dog days of summer lunchtime favorites that my mother used to make up for us when we were kids. Egg and olive sandwiches, pickled watermelon rind, and a tall pitcher of lemon iced tea were all set out on the old Victorian oak kitchen table where lunchtime was always peppered with lots of chatter and wild laughter. Lunch was then topped off with strawberry ice cream cones for all! An hour later we were all running off to the creek for a swim. Those were the halcyon days of summers past!

With the glow of those summer days on my mind I couldn’t help thinking about how beautiful the forms and colors of the ingredients are as I gathered them together while recalling the recipe as I remember it to be. Cooking does have this wonderful narrative that captures your imagination as you work from garden to table. You may well have your very own favorite recipe for an egg and olive sandwich What ever the case, this is a sandwich that may have fallen through the cracks of time, but it is a splendid old time favorite that is well worth a deserved revival.

Egg & Olive Sandwich    makes 3 to 4

Chinese celery& broad leaf parsley

• sliced white bread (or my preference panini), lightly toasted
• 4 hard boiled organic eggs
• 8 pimento stuffed olives, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/3 cup finely diced young tender celery (or Chinese celery; not to be confused with coriander/cilantro)
• 2 tablespoons finely sliced broad leaf parsley
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise + more for spreading
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• sea salt to taste
• several twists of ground white pepper
• iceberg lettuce

As mentioned my alternative for white bread is panini, which I like for its soft billowy texture and slight scent of olive oil. 

I have used Chinese celery as blanched young celery is not available in Thailand.

Place the eggs in a saucepan and add water to  cover the eggs. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes. This will insure that the yolks are soft.

Fill a bowl with water and add ice cubes. After simmering for 10 minutes, promptly transfer the eggs to the iced water bath.

When cool enough to handle, lightly bash the eggs and peel off the shells under cold running water and set aside.

Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, remove the yolks and gently chop them. Place them in a small bowl and set aside.

Slice the egg whites lengthwise and then slice into thirds crosswise and place in another bowl. Add the sliced olives, celery, and parsley and set aside.

In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Dijon Mustard, and salt and pepper. Whisk together until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings to you liking.

Egg & Olive Salad

Add the mayonnaise mixture to the bowl with the egg whites, olives, celery, and parsley and fold the mixture together until evenly coated.

Add the chopped egg yolks to the bowl and gently fold them in with out breaking them up if possible.
Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate until you are ready to make the sandwiches.

To assemble the sandwiches lightly toast the bread  or panini slices. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the slices. Place iceberg lettuce on half the slices and top with the egg & olive salad mixture. Top with the remaining bread slice and serve.

As suggested serve with pickled watermelon rind (see recipe here) or pickles of choice.
…and don’t forget the strawberry ice cream cones afterwords!