This time of year, radishes are abundant at the farmer's market. Some have a kick to them, and some are mild, like my favorites, the white-tipped French breakfast radishes. We eat them in salads of course, but one of our favorite ways to eat them lately is on a tartine. Tartine is just a French name for an open-faced sandwich, usually spread with butter and topped with something else. Tartine sounds so much more elegant and appetizing than "open-faced sandwich," doesn't it? Especially when feeding children, marketing is key, so we're sticking with the tartine tag.
We returned back from our Memorial Day weekend away to a bare refrigerator and the week was rolling before we had time to catch our breaths or shop. I love the challenge of those weeks, trying to make meals out of whatever is left in the cupboard and the refrigerator. Fortunately, we had a baguette in the freezer, President butter in the refrigerator, and a few of those fabulous radishes in the vegetable bin. So these became the sandwich -- oops, I mean tartine -- of the week.
Because there are so few ingredients and the flavors are simple, it is very important to use the best quality ingredients that you can find: fresh, crunchy radishes, preferably from a local farmer; a good quality butter such as Presidente or Plugra; a crusty baguette; and coarse sea salt. And don't be timid with the butter. I'm not sure whether you are familiar with Sally Fallon, who has written books advocating the value of traditional fats, among other things. I don't agree with everything she espouses -- she lost me with the copious amounts of organ meats -- but I love what she said about butter. She suggests spreading it thick enough so that you leave teeth marks when you bite into it. This is the perfect recipe to test her theory.
I thought the additional sea salt sprinkled on top enhanced the flavor, but it was too strong for Chloe, so you may want to omit that for your children, or let them add a small bit on their own.
Olivia was kind enough to write up the recipe for me, so here, in her words (and original spelling), is our recipe for radish tartines.
Radish Tartines
For 1 serving
What you'll need: salted butter, radish slices, bread and course sea salt.
What to do: butter the bread with the salted butter. Place the radish slices on the buttered bread. Sprinkle the course sea salt on top. Eat!
love it! you come up with such unique and appetizing things to eat that i NEVER in a million years would think to do. bravo!
Posted by: rosana | June 04, 2009 at 09:07 PM
awesome! I just pulled a bunch of radishes from my garden and was wondering what I could do with them besides put them in a salad-so now I am off to find some good bread!
Posted by: amy | June 05, 2009 at 10:15 AM
love those pictures. i just took one of the radishes at our greenmarket and they look so good, and even though i am not a fan, your recipe makes them look amazingly appealing. i will be stocking up this weekend.
Posted by: cherrypatter | June 16, 2009 at 08:09 PM