Egg Salad Sandwiches with Cucumber Dill Spread – Southern Luncheonette Recipes
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A favorite Southern Luncheonette Recipe, Egg Salad Sandwiches with Cucumber Dill Spread are classy summer lunchables easy to prepare.
Egg Salad Sandwiches with Cucumber Dill Spread – Southern Luncheonette Recipes
Egg salad sandwiches are fabulous for warm weather lunches when the thought of cooking seems daunting. I especially enjoy this southern egg salad recipe when my cucumbers start coming in. Why?
I look forward to the combination of this easy egg salad recipe coupled with my cucumber spread brought together as a satisfying summer sandwich. This is a southern recipe that forgoes the use of sweet pickle relish, instead using a cool and creamy cucumber, green onion, and dill cream cheese and yogurt spread.
Atop a bed of lettuce and a hearty seeded bread, this is among my favorite of summertime meatless meals. Serve open faced with homemade pickles, matchstick carrots, and fresh radishes from your garden.
Do You Have What’s Needed for Egg Salad Sandwiches with Cucumber Dill Spread? Check the List!
- large eggs, hard-boiled
- mayonnaise
- yellow mustard
- Dijon mustard
- black pepper
- butter lettuce
- quality seeded whole grain bread
- cucumber dill spread
How This Recipe Came About…
As I travel from state to state and from big city to tiny country town here in the great American South, I intentionally seek out those ‘hole in the wall’ diners and corner luncheonettes revered for their homestyle service and soda counter classics. Behind every choice on the menu is an easy recipe and an old timey story.
On a recent road trip to Georgia, I had the good fortune to spend a few days’ time in the tiny hamlet of Dahlonega. Home to just over 7,ooo residents, Dahlonega is the county seat of Lumpkin County.
Dahlonega is quaint, lively, historical, and charming. It’s the closest representation to Mayberry or Walton’s Mountain with a frozen-in-time and yesteryear feel about it.
In the center of town is a luncheonette and soda fountain counter. Upon walking in, it’s as if nothing has changed in over 75 years, the tin Coca Cola signs still affixed high up on the walls sporting images of icy soda floats.
The menu on the wall has likely changed very little over the decades either. Foot-long frankfurters, a BLT on white bread, a tuna salad platter, and southern-style egg salad were among the selections listed under “specialties.”
I bellied up to the counter and was immediately greeted by a young girl who took my order, the Homemade Cold Salads plate she recommended over and above everything else. Moments after placing my order she emerged from behind a pair of saloon doors with a large platter.
Atop individual beds of lettuce were hefty scoops of their own southern chicken salad recipe, an old fashioned egg salad, and a sweet ham salad. From beneath the counter she pulled a basket of pre-wrapped crackers and set them before me.
The premise behind the recipe I am sharing today comes from the clever addition of paper-thin slices of cucumber beneath the delicious egg salad. Simple ingredients were used to assemble the classic egg salad recipe that I found myself enjoying over everything else.
I quickly asked her how they made it because I was a little bit jealous it tasted better than mine! She claimed the secret was the addition of mustard.
Now prior to this admittedly I was an egg salad ‘purist.’ Mayonnaise and black pepper and that’s it. But this…this taste was compelling enough for me to inquire as to what style of mustard was being used.
I was then informed it was actually two mustards, and now I am sharing them each with YOU! Ready for a Southern Egg Salad recipe?
How to Properly Hard Boil Eggs for This Southern Egg Salad Recipe
The age of an egg dictates how easily that egg will peel. In this case, purchase eggs from the grocery store, not a local farm. You want old eggs. NOT GROSS. Not.
An aged egg will peel but a fresh egg will not peel easily. Older eggs make better hard boiled eggs due in part to a thinner albumen and a larger air pocket at the top of the egg, something a fresh egg just doesn’t have.
Grocery store eggs are already a couple of weeks old by the time they’re received. Grab those. Just a fact. A great way to make use of leftover Easter eggs is to peel them for egg salad and serve on your favorite bread as well.
- Start your eggs in cold water.
- Fill the water level to one inch above the eggs.
- Set the pot atop the burner and bring the pot to a boil.
- The moment the boil begins, slap a lid on the pot and remove from the heat.
- Let sit undisturbed with the lid on for 12 minutes.
- Move the pot to the sink.
- Pour off most of the hot water and place the pot with the eggs under cool running water to stop the cooking process, about 2 to 4 minutes.
- While still in the water, gently tap and roll the eggs against the bottom of the pan to shatter the shells.
- Roll on every side and both ends so that the shell is well fractured.
- Your eggs will peel without issue.
How to Make Egg Salad Sandwiches with Cucumber Dill Spread?
Make a Little or Make a Lot
The beauty of this recipe is that you needn’t boil a dozen eggs to get the job done. I like this recipe because for every three eggs, you’ll roughly factor two tablespoons of mayo to a teaspoon each of two unique mustards.
3:2:1:1
or
3 eggs to 2 tbsp mayo to 1 tsp Dijon to 1 tsp yellow mustard
= egg salad for 1 sandwich
The Cucumber Spread
First thing’s first, make the cucumber dill spread according to this method. It’s ideal to make it and allow it to chill overnight, but in as little as one hour, it’s ready enough to put this quick lunch on the map.
Begin with a good and hearty bread. I prefer a seeded bread I am able to pick up at my local grocery store who just so happen to have an outstanding bakery department.
From here, I plate the bread and top it with red leaf, bibb, or butter lettuce leaves. I follow with a healthy dollop of the cucumber dill spread for which I use the back of a spoon to distribute from side to side, corner to corner.
The Egg Salad
The egg salad itself is super easy. Grab a large bowl and peel your eggs. Use a knife or an egg slicer or even a handheld potato masher to begin breaking down the eggs into small pieces. Leave some bits and pieces slightly larger if you prefer a chunky egg salad.
To the eggs add some good mayonnaise, a couple of tablespoons at least. Next goes in a teaspoon each of both yellow mustard and Dijon mustard and fresh cracked black pepper.
Use the tines of a fork to stir the mixture and mash a bit of the hard-cooked yolks as you go to get everything nicely married. Many southern-inspired egg salads specify the addition of sweet relish or even dill relish, but in this delicious recipe the use of the cucumber dill spread will take the place of this popular ingredient.
Taste the mixture for seasoning and add any additional mayo or mustard(s) as necessary. I prefer to scrape the mixture into an airtight container to refrigerate for an hour before serving, however it’s ready as soon as it’s assembled.
Assembly
Use a large spoon to spoon heaps of the egg salad atop the cucumber dill spread and gently distribute it from side to side, corner to corner. Complete this simple egg salad sandwich by garnishing with a final grind of pepper on top, house made pickles, crispy carrot sticks, and fresh garden radishes.
What to Serve with Egg Salad Sandwiches with Cucumber Dill Spread?
Given this sandwich is a southern luncheonette recipe, why not serve a southern luncheonette side dish? The house made pickles are a great start, but if you’re looking for something more substantial, consider my Pickle Relish Macaroni Salad, Classic Southern Potato Salad, or Creamy Southern Coleslaw.
Each of the above salads work perfectly with this egg salad either in a sandwich or scooped atop a platter as a salad plate. I also REALLY like fresh vegetables with this egg salad, so a plate of radishes, carrots, or basic cornichons works beautifully!
If You Like This Recipe…
…you might also like:
- The Union Club’s 1889 New York Club Sandwich Recipe
- The Original Monte Cristo Sandwich
- Easy French Dip Sandwiches with Picante Provolone
- Smoked Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Egg Salad Sandwiches with Cucumber Dill Spread – Southern Luncheonette Recipes
Ingredients
- 12 extra large eggs hard-boiled, cooled slightly, and peeled
- 8 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 4 teaspoons yellow mustard
- black pepper freshly cracked, fine course
- 8 slices bread use whatever resonates with your eaters; I prefer I hearty seeded bread
- 16 large leaves butter lettuce or bibb or red leaf, washed and dried, spines removed
- 1 batch Cucumber Dill Spread halved and each half roughly divided into fourths
Instructions
- Begin by laying out 4 dinner plates and 2 slices of the bread you will be using atop each, side by side. Place a large leaf of lettuce atop each bread slice to cover the bread. Add Cucumber Dill Spread atop each leaf and use the back of a spoon to gently guide the spread from side to side, corner to corner.
- At a separate workstation and using a large mixing bowl, break down the hardboiled eggs with an egg slicer. I like to run an egg through lengthwise, then pick the egg up, open the egg slicer again, and re-run the egg through widthwise. Once all of the eggs have been sliced, add the mayonnaise and both mustards to the bowl. The amount of cracked pepper you add is up to you, but I add 10 to 12 fine grinds now and place the grinder on the table for serving as well. Use the tines of a fork to mix all very well.
- Halve and then quarter (roughly) the egg salad. Divide each quarter atop every 2 sandwich halves directly on top of the Cucumber Dill Spread. Use the back of a spoon to gently guide the egg salad from side to side, corner to corner. I like to leave the littlest bit of Cucumber Dill Spread peeking out from beneath the egg salad as a teaser. Top with additional finely cracked pepper if desired and offer a fork and sharp knife for eating open face.
- Make the Cucumber Dill Spread and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour, preferably 24 hours. Remove from refrigeration 30 minutes before serving and stir well. Since these Egg Salad Sandwiches are served open-faced, I like to halve the Cucumber Dill Spread, then quarter each half (roughly). This way, each slice of bread receives a more or less equal dollop of the spread as a base. You should adjust it to suit your taste and the needs of your eaters. You may serve the egg salad immediately at room temperature or make it ahead and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour if desired. Remove from refrigeration 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
The nutrition value can vary depending on what product(s) you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use a calorie counter you are familiar with.
Please note that table salt and iodized salt are NOT substitutions for Kosher salt. Do not deviate unless otherwise specified.
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday, 594. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party – sorry to be stopping by so late. Hope to see you at tomorrow’s party too! Enjoy the weekend.