Sunday, June 24, 2012

Cucumber, Bacon, Strawberry Mini Sandwiches with Fresh Pea Spread and Sriracha Whipped Cream


Originally, these started out as a crostini with three toppings – the pea spread, a cucumber slice, and a slice of strawberry.  Well, it was okay, but not very interesting… at all.  So then we decided that something salty and savory was needed, like bacon.  Because bacon! So smoky and crisp, how can that not add something fun to the mix?  To be honest, I think strawberry and bacon are actually pretty magical together.  Then we asked the very normal question – what does Sriracha whipped cream taste like?  We determined that the answer was good, and interesting!  So we added that to the crostini.  Then we were left with a flavorful, but unwieldy appetizer.  We solved that problem by slapping another slice of baguette on top and calling it a sandwich, but mini-size!  You can, of course, make these as regular size sandwiches, but where is the fun in that?  They’re so cute and bite size, what is not to love?  Even the word mini is super fun to say!  Mini!

Ingredients
1 baguette, sliced
1 hothouse cucumber, sliced
4 strawberries, sliced
Pea spread
Sriracha cream
5 pieces bacon

½ cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Pea spread:
12 ounces peas, cooked according to package directions
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped mint
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
For the pea spread:  Place the cooked peas in a bowl and toss with butter and olive oil.  Once the butter has melted, add lemon juice, chopped mint, and parsley.  Puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste. 

For the Sriracha cream:  Place whipping cream, Sriracha, and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip on medium-high until the mixture holds soft peaks. 

For the bacon:  Fry up bacon slices on a griddle over medium heat.  Once both sides have crisped, remove from griddle and place on a paper towel.

To assemble, spread the pea spread on a baguette slice.  Top with cucumber, strawberry, bacon, and Sriracha cream.  Finish with another baguette slice.

48 comments:

  1. I strangely love the sounds of these flavors all combined. And siracha whipped cream... I would love that!

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  2. Woooooooooow! I mean, really. Woooooow. I am just drooling all over myself here. FABULOUS guys!

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  3. These are FANTASTIC! I'm with Jen, big WOW.

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  4. These are hectic, so cute and bursting with flavour :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  5. Thats like all my fav ingredients in one dish...great idea:)

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  6. How cute are these!!!! I bet they taste delicious and refreshing too! Yummmmmmm x

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  7. These are little flavor explosions! Unique and delicious!

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  8. Looks so inviting and delicious...mouthwatering!

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  9. How cool are these? Very posh looking too! I am going to be making them, perfect for parties.

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  10. Strawberry + bacon!? You are so my hero right now! These little sandwiches are darling. :D

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  11. I am so intrigued by the sriracha whipped cream! These little sandwiches look so tasty.

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  12. Very very creative indeed!I can see that you combined your favorite flavors in this one :)Looks really good!

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  13. This is soo inventive. I love the strawberry twist. I will have to try these just to see how they turn out.

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  14. Pea spread! This sounds very innovative to me.

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  15. These are so adorable! Sound delicious too!

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  16. These sandwiches "sound" fancy but it's totally do-able! I've never thought of using pea for spread. I'm VERY intrigued. It has really good nutritious value too! Very pretty sandwiches!

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  17. OMG. I don't even know what to say....

    sriracha cream
    BACON!?

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  18. I love the story of how these came about. And sriracha whipped cream...totally a normal thing to invent. And by normal, I mean genius.

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  19. I'm lost for words here! I'm just trying to imagine what this would taste like...guess I have to make it to find out. :P Strawberries and bacon, sriracha cream... sounds so interesting!

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  20. It's as if Frank Gehry was let loose in your kitchen! GREG

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  21. Blimey! Would you look at those, they look and sound amazing! I love how you've arranged them, you wouldn't want to eat them.

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  22. These look gorgeous and such a clever combination! I never paired bacon and strawberry together, but it sounds really good (I mean, what doesn't sound good with bacon, right?)

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  23. o boy...the sandwiches look really super!

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  24. Oh my, oh my, do these mini sammys look delicious. Pea spread? Siracha whipped cream? I think I just entered sandwhich heaven. I have a confession, I put siracha on everything. I love the stuff and can't get enough of it.

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  25. Yes to all of it! Especially Sriracha whipped cream!

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  26. I can't decide to what to start making first: the pea spread or the sriracha whipped cream. What a fun mix of flavors!

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  27. Bacon and strawberries? Sriracha whipped cream? You guys are geniuses! Love this.

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  28. Oh, yeah!!! Bacon makes everything better...and these little sandwiches are anything but ordinary! YUM.

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  29. Woah! This looks incredibly delicious! I would LOVE this as a midnight snack!!

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  30. What a unique sandwich. It sounds delicious though it will be difficult to memorize its name. It is a mouthful :-). Have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  31. What a wonderful appetizer!Great for a party....printing this one!

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  32. These look so invinting, but I'm not sure if I could find that cream here in Italy :(

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  33. Dear Jenn, Looks wonderful. I agree the added bacon made all the difference. Blessings dearest. Catherine xo

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  34. In my mind, bacon goes with everything :-)

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  35. Wow, this is just a mini sandwich of absolute amazingness!

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  36. love love love these!! I've never thought about bacon and strawberry together... I'm' going to trust you guys :) These are too cute and so interesting! I'm so curious about all those flavors!

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  37. You had me at Sriracha whipped cream, oh this is a must try !!

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  38. Sriracha whipped cream?! Awesome!!! So excited about that. This whole mini sandwich looks great, I love the sweet, savory, spicy combination you have going on here!

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  39. This sandwich is so unique! I love it! I would have never thought to combine these ingredients, but they sound delicious! I am glad I came across your blog. I definitely will be following! :)

    Would love for you to stop by my blog sometime. New blog friends are the best!

    http://sugarlyeverafter.blogspot.com/

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