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I was first introduced to the open-faced sandwich while studying abroad in Moscow. It was not love at first sight. I arrived in Moscow late at night without my luggage only to learn that the hot water had been turned off on the entire city block of my apartment so the “pipes could be cleaned.” When I arrived at the language school that I was there to attend, I had been wearing the same clothes for 3 days and contrary to what you might think of Moscow, the summers are hot and humid. The school cafeteria had these sad open-faced sandwiches (or “Buterbrodi) on mediocre french bread with salami, hardboiled eggs, or salmon, wrapped in plastic wrap and sitting out in a basket at room temperature for who knows how long, maybe days.
After a rocky introduction to my new surroundings, the hot water came back on, my luggage arrived, the vodka flowed, and while in a more jovial and receptive state of mind, I began to see variations of these open-faced sandwiches everywhere I looked and came to understand their full potential.
Sitting in my Soviet-style apartment, I would make my own buterbrod for breakfast with the Chiorni Hleb (Russian Black Bread), Smetana (sour cream, the Russians make the best sour cream), and soft boiled quail eggs which were readily available at the grocery store. Drinking black tea on my little balcony on the 20th floor, I would nosh on these little open-faced sandwiches while looking across the yard at hundreds of identical balconies. By the time I was eating my breakfast at 7 in the morning, it had already been daylight for 4 hours. Years later, as a chef and caterer, I pulled from my experiences abroad to come up with an endless array of canapes for weddings and other events, essentially a mini-version of the buterbrod.
On a separate but parallel course, my husband spent a year eating a very similar type of open-face sandwich while working in Denmark. There the medium was a Hearty Danish Rye Bread instead of the Russian Black Bread, they are called Smørrebrød, and are often covered in liver paté, stinky cheese, or little shrimp.
I am still looking for a good recipe for Russian Black Bread (if you have a lead, send it my way), but in the meantime, I’ve developed this recipe for the Danish Rye Bread, loaded with whole grains and seeds, which makes excellent open-faced sandwiches and is super hearty and delicious. It also has the longest natural shelf life of any bread I’ve ever made (about 2 weeks!). This recipe is a combination of Magnus Nielson’s recipe from The Nordic Baking Book, the Rye Sourdough Recipe from the Perfect Loaf (an excellent resource for sourdough), and the Danish Rye recipe in “Artisan Sourdough Made Easy” by Emily Raffa. All are great resources for baking bread, although the Nordic Baking Book calls exclusively for fresh yeast so those recipes need to be adapted to use your sourdough starters.
We eat a lot of open-faced sandwiches in the Taylor house. These sandwiches are hearty and versatile. They can be simple or elegant. They can be a meal or an appetizer….and in my opinion, they are the correct ratio of bread to “stuff”.
Ideas for Open-Faced Sandwiches (Smørrebrød and Buterbrodi)
Essentially anything you would put on an appetizer platter together would make an excellent open-faced sandwich. Here are some favorite and classic combos to get the ideas flowing:
- Salmon, saffron aioli, oven-dried tomato and dill
- Baby shrimp, mayo/ sour cream/ creme fraiche/ saffron aioli, hard-boiled egg, lemon, dill, salad greens
- Pâté or rillette, whole-grain mustard, cornichons or other pickled things (cherry tomatoes, onion, peppers, etc)
- Liver Paté, sliced apple, whole-grain mustard or dijon
- Salami, onion, pickled peppers, olives
- Pickled herring or white anchovy, shaved radish and shaved celery
- Sour cream and caviar
- Tuna, olives, boiled potato, green beans, salad greens, tomato, hard boiled egg, mayo and dijon mixed or mustard vinaigrette.
- Hot or cold smoked salmon, shaved onion, cucumber, cream cheese, capers, fresh dill
- Blue Cheese, Lardo or proscruitto, pear and walnut
- Smoked turkey, cranberry-red onion jam, salad greens
- Ham, brie, whole-grain mustard, sliced apple and salad greens
- Ham, mayo, salad greens, cornichons or other pickled things, hard boiled egg
- Soft boiled egg, butter, cracked pepper
- Avocado, cucumber, tomato, hummus
- Goat Cheese, fresh figs, honey
- Brie, sautéd or pickled mushrooms, salad greens
Danish Rye Sourdough
- Prep Time: 18 hours
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 21 hours
- Yield: 3 loaves 1x
- Category: bread
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Nordic
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This recipe makes 3 loaves. Why so much? Because the shelf life is so long and you will definitely want more than one loaf. These also freeze really well.
Ingredients
LEVAIN
100 grams (1/2 cup) active sourdough starter
470 grams (3 3/4 – 4 cups) rye flour
470 grams (2 cups) warm water
SEEDS
65 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted sunflower seed
65 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted pumpkin seeds
195 grams (1 cup) rye kernels
25 grams flax seed (2 tablespoons)
2 1/2 (+/-) cups boiling water for soaking
NOTE: You could sub the sunflower seed, flax, and pumpkin for more rye kernels for a more traditional loaf (may need more boiling water as the rye soaks up water and sunflower and pumpkin seeds do not). Or you could omit the seeds altogether, but if you do, you may want to reduce the salt to 20 grams.
DOUGH
1040 grams Levain
280 grams (2 1/3 cups) rye flour
400 grams (3 1/3 cups) high protein flour
585 grams (a scant 2 1/2 cups) warm water
60 grams (3 Tablespoons) unsulphured molasses
24 grams (5–6 teaspoons) salt
Soaked seeds, drained
Variation:
Sub 175 grams dark beer (I’ve used Old Rasputin) for the Molasses and subtract 115 grams of warm water in the dough for a total of 470 grams.
Instructions
Start the Levain (I do this in the evening)
In a large mixing bowl combine the active starter with 470 grams of rye flour and water. Let this mixture ferment for 12 hours at room temperature (or 24 hours in a cool place like a cold garage or refrigerator). The bowl should be large enough to accommodate all the ingredients in the later steps.
Soak the Seeds
At the same time that you start the levain, combine all the whole seeds in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let sit at room temperature to soak and soften until ready to use them.
Make the Dough
Drain the seeds and allow them to drip dry in a sieve while you prepare the rest of the dough.
Add the water and molasses (or beer if you are trying that variation) to the levain and stir to dissolve. Add the remaining dry ingredients and the drained seeds. Mix the dough with your hands or a spatula until all the flour is well incorporated. This dough will resemble wet concrete at this stage.
Bulk Fermentation
Let this dough ferment for just a short while longer. About 30-60 minutes. Do not stretch, fold, or kneed it.
Proof
Generously oil or butter 3 loaf pans. Divide the dough between the 3 loaf pans. Smooth the top over with the back of a spoon or a spatula or wet hands. If desired, you could sprinkle or decorate with more seeds. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap for another 2 hours.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Set the loaf pans on a baking sheet and bake the loaves for 2 1/2 – 3 hours (see note). If they are getting too brown, cover with tin foil around the second hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 1 hour in the pan. Then remove the loaves from the pan and set them on a drying rack to cool the rest of the way.
Once completely cooled, wrap them tightly to store. The loaf is even better the next day, but who can wait that long. That’s why you made 3 of them😉. They will last 10-14 days on the counter or you could freeze them.
Notes
BAKING TIMES
In my research for this recipe, I have seen baking times for this type of bread vary widely from 1-3hours and at temps of 400-300 F. I have baked a similar rye sourdough at 400 F for 1 hour and 15 minutes with good results. When testing this recipe I baked some loaves for 2 hours and some for 3 hours at 300 F. The loaves baked for 2 hours were slightly wet in the middle, whereas the loaves baked for 3 hours were not. In the end, I went with the baking time that Magnus Nielson recommends in “The Nordic Baking Book”, but you should know that there is a lot of flexibility here with the baking times. As with all loaves, they should sound hollow when you tap them and this one benefits from some deep browning and caramelization of the outside.
I want to try this recipe. Could I substitute rye kernels for steel cut oats?
Hi Lorna, I don’t see any issues substituting rye kernals for steel cut oats. I do like the rye kernals when you cut slices. But if you don’t have them on hand and don’t want to find them for one recipe, steel cut oats might be a great substitute. Let me know how it goes.