PrettyFood

Creating memories around the table

  • Home
  • Capers
    • Hours and Location
    • Capers News
    • What’s New
    • Product Spotlight
  • Recipes
    • Visual Recipe Index
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Salads
    • Side Dishes
    • Snacks
    • Soups
  • Advice
    • The Basics
    • Ask PrettyFood
    • Critiques
    • Essentials
    • Gadgets & Tools
  • Make it Pretty
    • Tablescapes
    • Flowers
    • Garnishes
    • Holidays & Celebrations
    • Takeout Tricks
  • On the Road
    • Chicago
    • Florence
    • Honolulu
    • Los Cabos
    • Louisville
    • Napa Valley
    • Paris
    • Santa Fe
    • Scottsdale
    • Seattle
  • Special Features
    • A Week of Low-Carb Meals
    • More from Mary Beth
  • About
    • About PrettyFood
    • Contact Us
Home / Recipes / Appetizers / Benedictine Finger Sandwiches for Kentucky Derby Week

Benedictine Finger Sandwiches for Kentucky Derby Week

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Benedictine Finger Sandwiches

How fun would it be to invent a recipe with your name on it that decades later is known and loved by scores of people you’ve never met? Louisville caterer Jennie Benedict wrote herself into the history books with this simple tea sandwich recipe that is now a Kentucky tradition.  If you’re planning a Kentucky Derby party, put on your hat and make some Benedictine sandwiches to serve!

Ingredients:

  • Cucumber (an English one, if you’ve got it, but “regular” will work, too)
  • 8 oz. softened cream cheese
  • 1 Tbsp. finely minced onion
  • Mayonnaise or sour cream (optional – simply used to make it easier to spread)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 drops of Tabasco
  • 2-3 drops green food coloring
  • Bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
  • White bread, crusts removed (or low carb tortillas, cut out with a round scalloped-edge cookie cutter)

benedictinestep1

We Yankees didn’t know what we had been missing! A trip to the hair salon in Louisville changed all that as we struck up a conversation with a lovely lady who used to own her own restaurant. She advised us of certain foods that are considered Derby “musts,” including the brainchild of Jennie Benedict, Benedictine Finger Sandwiches. I had an opportunity to taste them at Michele’s and couldn’t wait to share what I learned with my mother and friends when I returned home. Ingredients assembled, I started peeling the cucumber.

benedictinestep2

Peel the cuke, cut it in half horizontally, then use a spoon to scoop out all the seeds into your garbage bowl. Next, pull out a grater and start grating!

benedictinestep4

The lady at the salon emphasized the need to squeeze the moisture out of the shredded cucumber. Her technique was to roll it up in napkins and apply pressure. I got out my paper towels and did the same. I had no idea cucumbers were such watery little things. I didn’t think I would ever get them dry! I finally did, however, so I was off to mash my cream cheese.

benedictinestep3

You want to end up with 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of “dry” cucumber shreds. Allowing the cuke pieces to await mixing on a paper towel seemed like a good way to capture any residual moisture. Don’t forget, on your cream cheese, you need it to be very soft before you start mixing anything into it.

benedictinestep5

2 drops of green food coloring stirred into the cream cheese. Then I added the very finely grated onion.

benedictinestep6

Next, I added the cucumber, a pinch of salt and a couple of drops of Tabasco. Because my cream cheese was so soft, I saw no need to adulterate the spread with either mayo or sour cream.

benedictinestep7

I made some of the little sandwiches with the classic white bread. I made the rest with low carb flour tortillas. Thin slices of cucumber with pretty edges (from the Kiwi Thai vegetable peeler) made a lovely garnish.

Did I mention BACON? Oh, yes. I learned that the B&B is an accepted variation of this Kentucky classic. Bread, then Benedictine, then bacon, topped by another slice of bread. I also made some with cooked crumbled bacon on top of a top-dressed sandwich.

Scrumptious – with or without the bacon! The fresh crunch of the cucumbers makes these little jewels taste like summer.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
« Kentucky Derby Lunch
Grand Old Flag Strawberries »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Our store and more •

With Capers Emporium, Mary Beth and Michael Guard have given PrettyFood.com a real home — a large retail store where people can purchase elements to set beautiful tables, concoct wonderful meals, play with gadgets, take cooking classes, and much more!. Read more »

• Hours & Location •

Now open seven days a week!

Sundays Noon – 4 p.m.
Mondays 11:00 – 5:00
Tuesdays 11:00 – 5:00
Wednesdays 11:00 – 5:00
Thursdays 11:00 – 5:00
Fridays 11:00 – 5:00
Saturdays 11:00 – 5:00

MAP »

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Email

• Find Recipes •

Newsletter

Receive The News Bite each month.

By Course

Archives


● Farmers Market to Table
● On the Grill
● Dining Outdoors
● Time-Saving Tools
● Mary Beth's Faves

• Visual Recipe Index •

View all of Mary Beth's delicious recipes at once with our Visual Recipe Index.

• Popular •

Crudités

Preparing to Make a Recipe

Cranberry Goat Cheese Pudding Layers

• Tags •

Appetizers Asian Bacon Beef Breakfast Cheese Chicken Christmas Daily Meals December Desserts Dishes Easter Eggs Fall Farmers Market Fish Flowers Fruit Grilling Halloween Italian Low-Carb Meat Mexican Outdoors Parties party food Pasta popular Quick & Easy Seafood Seattle 2010 Snacks Southwest Spring Summer tablescape Thanksgiving Travel Turkey Vegetables Vegetarian Videos Winter
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Visual Recipe Index
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Salads
    • Side Dishes
    • Snacks
    • Soups
  • Advice
    • The Basics
    • Ask PrettyFood
    • Critiques
    • Essentials
    • Gadgets & Tools
  • Make it Pretty
    • Tablescapes
    • Garnishes
    • Holidays & Celebrations
    • Takeout Tricks
  • On the Road
    • Chicago
    • Florence
    • Honolulu
    • Los Cabos
    • Louisville
    • Napa Valley
    • Paris
    • Santa Fe
    • Scottsdale
    • Seattle
  • Special Features
    • A Week of Low-Carb Meals
    • More From Mary Beth
  • About

f-facebook f-twitter f-pinterest f-rss f-email
Contact Us
Site Map

Copyright © 2025 · PrettyFood | Privacy Policy