Mum's kitchen

Making dainty sandwiches can take time to prepare, so take shortcuts where you can. Use store-bought roast chicken, mayonnaise and/or crème fraîche, but add a wow factor, such as crunchy “stuffing” in the chicken sandwiches and lime crème fraîche with salmon.

CHICKEN & SAGE STUFFING FILLING

MAKES 18 small sandwiches

2 cups roast chicken, shredded

1 celery stick, finely diced

½ cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp olive oil

½ cup fresh breadcrumbs

½ tsp dried sage

Pinch of chilli flakes

½ tsp sea salt, plus grind of pepper

6 slices thin-sliced bread (I use a mix

of wholemeal and white), buttered

3 large lettuce leaves, washed,

dried and flattened

1 In a bowl, mix together the chicken, celery and mayonnaise.

2 Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, then cook the breadcrumbs, sage, chilli and seasoning until golden and crisp. Cool.

3 Butter 2 bread slices, top with the lettuce, then the chicken mix. Spread evenly. Add another buttered slice of bread onto each, then half the stuffing mix, followed by more chicken mix. Top with the remaining bread slices and press firmly. Slice the crusts from each stack. Cut each sandwich into 3 fingers, then halve each of these to make small squares.

4 Store under a slightly damp tea towel until ready to serve.

SALMON, DILL & LIME CRÈME FRAÎCHE FILLING

MAKES 18 small pouches

150g hot-smoked salmon

6 tbsp crème fraîche

2 tbsp fresh dill

½ tsp fresh lemon zest

Pinch sea salt, plus grind of pepper

6 slices thin-sliced bread, buttered

1 Flake the salmon into a bowl, then mix in the crème fraîche, dill, lemon zest and seasoning.

2 Spread between each bread slice. Fold each slice over the filling in half, remove the crusts and press the long edges together firmly. Cut into 3 pouches. Store under a slightly damp tea towel until ready to eat.