Adelaide Sanwiches is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic snack of fried bread rounds filled with a blend of chicken and ham in a mix of sauce and curry paste. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Adelaide Sandwiches.
(click this button to prevent the screen from sleeping so Cook Mode is 'ON')
This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Adelaide Sandwiches that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 358.—ADELAIDE SANDWICHES.
Cut up chicken and cooked ham, in the form of small squares or dice, in the proportion of two-thirds of chicken or fowl to one-third of ham. Next, stir two good tablespoonfuls of sauce with one spoonful of Crosse and Blackwell's curry paste in a stewpan, and when it boils, add the chicken and ham; mix, and with this preparation make the sandwiches in manner following : viz.,—cut some thin slices of stale crumb of bread, stamp out these with a plain round tin cutter the size of a crown-piece, and fry them in clarified butter of a light-golden colour; between two of these croutons place a thick layer of the preparation; and as this is done, place them in order on a baking-sheet; then put upon the tops a round ball—the size of a small walnut composed of grated Parmesan cheese and butter in equal parts, and kneaded into a paste; push in the oven (brisk heat) for five minutes, dish up on a napkin, and serve as a secondcourse savoury dish. Note.—These very delicious appetisers may be also prepared with equal success by using any kind of cooked fish or shell-fish, instead of game, &c.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
210g cooked chicken or game, finely diced
70g cooked ham, finely diced
2 tbsp sauce
1 tsp curry paste
6 slices slightly stale bread
clarified butter, for frying
60g freshly-grated Parmesan cheese mixed to a paste with 60g butter
Method:
Combine the sauce and curry paste in a small pan. Bring to a boil then add the chicken and ham. Stir to combine and take off the heat then set aside.
Take a 4cm diameter pastry cutter and stamp out as many rounds from the bread as you can. Melt clarified butter in a frying pan, add the bread rounds and fry until golden brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon.
Arrange some of the bread rounds on a baking tray. Fill with a generous layer of the meat mix and sit a second bread round on top. Place a walnut-sized piece of the butter and Parmesan paste on top of each then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for 5 minutes.
Arrange on a plate, garnish with a little parsley and serve immediately.
