English Tea Style Cucumber Sandwich

Not related to recipes at all, just want to share that recently I've been watching some bird-related live streams while doing chores or playing with my phones at the same time. Like when washing dishes, I'll have my laptop on the side with live streams on. Here is one of the channels I've been watching Big Bear bald eagle live nest. It's actually quite therapeutic if you ask me.

English tea style cucumber sandwich - 

Ingredients (about 6 servings)?

• 6 slices white toasts
• 1 yellow lemon
• 2 to 3 English cucumbers 
• Small bundle dill
• Small bundle chives
• 8 oz or 226 grams cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Some salt

How?

Remove the cream cheese from the fridge first and transfer 8 oz to a medium bowl. Wait till it softens. Chop the dill and chives, we will only need the leafy part for this recipe.

Trim-off both ends for the cucumbers. You can shave the cucumbers or thinly slice it. Doesn't matter which direction to slice into because in the end I'm going to chop the cucumber into smaller cubes for the sandwich. Not the typical way to prepare English cucumber sandwich but I kind of like it.

So transfer sliced cucumber to a bowl and use 1 teaspoon of salt to massage and marinate it. Rest under room temperature for about 20 minutes, until some moisture has been drawn out.

Once time's up, really squeeze hard to get all the liquid out from the cucumber. Dice into mini cubes and set aside for later use.

As for the cream cheese bowl, also add in 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of chopped dill, 1 tablespoon of chopped chives, zest from 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix till evenly blended. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.

Spread the cream cheese mixture to one side of the toast for all 6 square white toasts. Arrange chopped cucumber on top for 3 of the toasts. So for every one toast with the spread and cucumber, top with another toast with the spread only, making sure all the seasoned side facing the inside, the center direction.

Trim-off the toast edges. You can just use a knife and press down, don't saw back and forth since it might rip the edges and ruin the shape of the sandwich.

Slice the square sandwich in half, so it'll either become two rectangular sandwiches or two triangular sandwiches, whichever shape you prefer.

About the mayonnaise used in this recipe, I used the English style mayonnaise, not the Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. However, if you only have the Japanese kind available, the flavor shouldn't be off too much in the end. 

So back to the bird-related live streams, the Big Bear Lake bald eagle channel seems to be on all the time, and it's been on for a long long time already.

Hope such live stream will raise some awareness in regards to animal's natural habitat and preservation topics. Meanwhile, seeing these wild life prosper is such an amazing feeling, a cheerful boost while doing the daily routine chores. 

Other sandwich recipes:

• Cured ham open-faced sandwich for two
• Roasted tomatoes Serrano ham and burrata pesto sandwich
• Food I love and miss back from high school years - sloppy Joes