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a plain plate of closed crustless light-rye finger sandwiches filled with finely chopped firm yellow-and-white egg salad and tiny dill flecks in a pale dressing, without lettuce or garnish
Melissa Hart

Egg Salad Finger Sandwiches

Steam the eggs, cool them completely, and chop them finely enough that a narrow finger holds together when you cut across it. Crème fraîche binds this salad with a little mustard, while dill supplies the green flecks without the hard crunch of celery. Soft rye gives the pale filling a useful contrast and doesn’t need to be toasted. Don’t add more dressing just because the bowl looks less creamy than a deli tub; the eggs soften the mixture as it chills, and an overfilled finger is difficult to eat neatly.
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Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 12
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 8 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup crème fraîche
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 16 thin slices soft seedless rye bread

Method
 

  1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add eggs, cover and steam for 13 minutes, then move immediately to ice water for 10 minutes.
  2. Peel the cooled eggs and chop into small pieces with a knife. Fold in crème fraîche, Dijon, dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper without beating the eggs smooth.
  3. Cover and refrigerate the salad for 20 minutes. Spread a thin layer of softened butter over one face of all 16 bread slices.
  4. Divide the salad equally among eight buttered slices and spread into a level layer almost to the edges. Close with the remaining bread, buttered faces inward.
  5. Trim crusts with a sharp serrated knife and cut each sandwich into three fingers. Keep the 24 pieces refrigerated in a covered container; allow two fingers per serving and use within 24 hours.