Thursday, April 8, 2010

Egg Salad Tartines with Smoked Salmon


Of course there were eggs for Easter. I usually make deviled eggs, but this year I decided to mix it up just a bit. The flavors here were the same as what you’d find in my deviled eggs, but the delivery took a different form. These tartines are from Ina, and I’ve always thought her egg salad topped with thinly sliced smoked salmon looked delicious. I thought about making them for the longest time. In fact, I thought about them for so long, I forgot which one of her books included the recipe. In the past, I used to search my cookbooks by pulling each one off the shelf and flipping to the index. I did that to find recipes I remembered or to get ideas for cooking with specific ingredients. That was the old way of searching. These days, I use Eat Your Books, which accomplishes the same thing with just the click of a mouse. You build a list of all of your books which you can then search for recipes or ingredients. The search result will show the book title that includes your search term and the list of ingredients in the recipe. It’s so much easier than the old way. I quickly found that the egg salad tartines are in Barefoot Contessa at Home. This recipe is also on the FoodNetwork site.

I wanted to find Ina’s recipe to see exactly how she made her version and to check the ratio of mayonnaise to egg, but I had to make a few additions of my own. Ina’s egg salad is very straightforward with just hard-boiled eggs chopped in a food processor, mayonnaise, whole-grain mustard, fresh dill, salt, and pepper. I wanted to add a couple of things that are always in my deviled eggs, so I included finely chopped cornichons and spring onions. I had some pretty, red, spring onions from the farmers’ market and wanted to make use of their flavor and color. For bread, I had just baked some sourdough baguettes which are even more fun to bake now that I have a proper baguette pan. I sliced a baguette and toasted the pieces before spreading them with the egg salad and topping it with smoked salmon. I wish I had cured my own salmon, but that’s something that remains on my to-try list.

I knew I was going to like this a lot, and I think I enjoyed it even more than my usual deviled eggs. The smoked salmon added savory, slightly salty bite to the egg salad. Another option would have been to slice some olives to use as a topping. I have a thing for the pickled element of cornichons with hard-boiled eggs, but I’m not sure how popular that is. Do you have a favorite ingredient for egg salad or deviled eggs?





26 comments:

  1. Lisa,
    I JUST MADE THESE TOO!
    I will wait to post them for next week instead of tomorrow, so we don't look like we consulted menus!
    I make mine on whole grain slices and use asparagus tips, a little different...they are my favorite for brunch, lunch, or whenever!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I remember this episode of Barefoot Contessa. I loved those tartines.
    *kisses* HH

    ReplyDelete
  3. A wonderful idea! so yummy!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks like a new family favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, the cornichons are perfect. Egg salad was one of the egg dishes on the table for the holiday this year, and cornichons would've been great with it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lisa, you have posted so many already while I was on holiday. They all look so yummy and professional. you should consider to open a resto yourself : )

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love smoked salmon! This would be so good for a party or just an appetizer!

    ReplyDelete
  8. i love those tartines! great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Egg salad is one of my favorite sandwich fillings. To combine it with salmon must be heavenly..

    ReplyDelete
  10. Going to try some tartines too! They look so irresistible.

    ReplyDelete
  11. cornichons! what a lovely and unique component--good thinking. i'm glad you're able to make proper baguettes now, and this is one outstanding use for your wonderful bread!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lisa, you read my mind! Why have I been craving both egg salad (which I never make) and smoked salmon lately? I was feeling the pull towards your blog, no doubt. And I love this combo! I'm heading over for brunch Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  13. These tartines look outstanding! Great combo with egg salad and smoked salmon!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have never heard of that site, but you can bet I am going to spend a few hours plugging in all my cookbooks. Brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yummy, Lisa. And you made your own baguettes!! I am so impressed. I love Ina...in fact just reading about these reminded me to go the the FN and copy something I saw her making yesterday. Those wonderful red and yellow pepper bruschetta.
    The egg salad and salmon looks just as good!

    ReplyDelete
  16. These look ab fab! Great combo!

    ReplyDelete
  17. My husband would just love this!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Those sourdough baguettes look wonderful, I have been wanting to get one of those pans, now I think I have to!! What a perfect combination for the topping!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Looks delicious and surely very appetizing. Please come and collect an Award from my blog. Have a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Looks yummy! I like to sprinkle some regular or smoked paprika on top of egg salad :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. First of all, thanks so much for sharing that website! I am definitely going to start using it. It sounds like such a useful tool.

    Secondly, I adore anything with smoked salmon but I have to say that this egg salad sounds scrumptious. Ina knows what she's doing.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow, this looks absolutely wonderful and I of course love smoked salmon and cornichons. What a brilliant idea, I am going to have to check out Eat Your Books, sounds like such a neat concept.

    ReplyDelete
  23. These are so gorgeous! I don't usually like smoked salmon but they look so delectable sitting on top of the egg salad and bread :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. These would be ideal for a Mother's Day brunch, Lisa!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Egg Salad and the Salmon sounds excellent! How pretty the 3 layers looks.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Egg and smoked salmon or just salmon is Scandinavian, just as open faced sandwiches are. Very delicious.

    ReplyDelete

Blogging tips