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tartine de viande des grisons {ffwd}
After a week away for Thanksgiving week, I welcomed the simplicity of this week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie. Our group has already made several varieties of tartines. I have usually served them as open-faced sandwiches for lunch, though in Around My French Table, Dorie usually suggests slicing them crosswise to serve as nibbles with an aperitif. Finally, I chose that route myself.
As with last week’s recipe for Red Kuri Soup, sourcing was the major challenge for this otherwise easy appetizer. The recipe calls for air-dried beef, such as viande des Grisons or bresaola. A few years ago, Howard made something similar (carne salada) based on a recipe from Patricia Wells’ book Salad As a Meal. Alas, for this recipe, we hadn’t planned ahead. During my food shopping outings all week, I kept my eye out for this type of meat. I saw lots of prosciutto, but no bresaola. I finally decided to give up my pursuit and purchased some prosciutto.
Then, on my way home, I passed the local Italian specialty shop in town (Tutto Italiano). It’s where I usually by prosciutto and fresh mozzarella when that’s the object of my shopping. On a whim, I went in and asked. Success! The owner said bresaola was expensive ($23 a pound). However, I didn’t need much, and it really wasn’t much more than the imported prosciutto I buy there. I asked for 4 slices, enough to cover two slices of bread, and it was only $3.22.
This is so easy! First you slice and toast some rustic country bread. In anticipation of the tartines, I baked a loaf of whole wheat no-knead bread.
Next, slather it with butter.
Cover with a layer of bresaola.
Drizzle with walnut oil and sprinkle with toasted walnuts.
Cut into batons and serve with a glass of wine. Bon Appetit!
We both loved it! We enjoyed the tartines before a weeknight meal, but this one is company-worthy. Now that I know that the main ingredient can be conveniently found just a mile away from my house, I expect this appetizer to be repeated.
To see what the other Doristas cooked up, check out their links here.
Last Saturday, I enjoyed an afternoon with Adriana of Great Food 360, starting with lunch and then moving on to the best hot chocolate in New England. We met last year in Seattle, so it was a treat to have another chance to get together. I look forward to the next time!
salmon rillettes {ffwd}
Over the past year or so, I’ve grown to love rillettes as a pre-dinner appetizer or part of a picnic lunch. What are rillettes? It’s the French word for a pâté-like paste traditionally made from pork. I tried my hand at pork rillettes over the winter. In Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table, she offers three different versions of rillettes made with fish. Previously, we’ve made rillettes with sardines and tuna. This week, salmon was on deck.
Salmon rillettes is the most colorful of the trio. It’s yet another recipe I’d describe with the word “confetti”. The pale coral of fresh salmon provides the base for flecks of deep coral from smoked salmon, red from a chile pepper, light purple from shallot, a sprinkling of yellow from lemon zest, and a flash of fuchsia from pink peppercorns. The preparation was simple. Small chunks of salmon are barely poached in diluted wine with some lemon peel, a sliver of the chile pepper, and some coriander seed and white peppercorns thrown in the pot. The salmon is then mashed with the other ingredients along with softened butter and lemon juice before packing it into a ramekin to firm up for spreading.
Confetti of Color
This spread is quite versatile. I enjoyed salmon rillettes spread on crackers for a light lunch. Tonight, we’ll enjoy it again as an appetizer. If there’s anything leftover, it will be part of the picnic lunch I’ve planned for tomorrow.
I did find that the smoked salmon overpowered the poached salmon both in flavor and texture. Next time I make this, I would adjust the proportions by doubling the fresh salmon and halving the smoked so the fresh fish could shine.
Mise en Place
To see what the other Doristas thought of salmon rillettes, you can check out their links here. The recipe is, of course, in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table, or you can find it on-line here.
A Plateful of Happiness 