Smoked Turkey Tea Sandwiches with Cranberry

From the time Erin was small we have enjoyed special times together.  She loves tea in all of its forms more than I do and if I want to particularly bless her a quick trip to Teavana with do it…or a click to Adagio. Or… When we had the tearoom Erin was invaluable to me for her creative input.  SHe has an incredibel eye for the creative details and we created some tiered tea services that were not only droolworthy but perfect for the cover of  Tea Time magazine.

Sadly the antique tiered dishes are gone with the tea room and this was not as beautiful as she deserved.  But they were delicious and special enough for a birthday.

The smoked turkey combines with a spread that is made from dried cranberries, pecans, and cream cheese for  delicious, and delicate tea sandwiches.  If it had been for me I would have added a bit of bleu cheese but Erin is not a fan…yet.   If you are going to make your own bread for these then try an orange flavored quick bread loaf for a really elegant flavor pairing.

• 1 8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• pinch of salt
• pinch of chipotle if you have it
• tablespoon of grated orange zest
• 1/2 lb good quality deli smoked turkey, sliced on a “1″
• Bread with crusts removed

In a food processor, or by hand, mix the cream cheese, cranberries, pecans, orange zest, chipotle, and salt together until well blended.  You may need to add a little milk or cream to get a good spreading consistency.

Spread 1 tablespoon of the mixture on one slice of bread.

Roll three turkey slices up and lay them over the top of the spread.

Spread the other piece of bread with 1 tablespoon of the mixture and lay spread side down over the turkey.

Cut diagonally in fourths.

That’s it…Easy and delicious!

image:(c) marye audet