Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Radish truffle butter sandwiches

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Radish and truffle butter tartines (photo: Robert Takata of Guzzle & Nosh)

If you got here from the Trufflepalooza article in the Los Angeles Times, welcome! I'm so glad you stopped by! - Erika

When I was planning the menu for my first Trufflepalooza party in 2009, I threw these open-faced radish sandwiches with truffle butter in at the last minute. Little did I know that this would become one of my signature dishes. 

I'm a huge fan of the radish and believe it is seriously underutilized by American cooks - in fact, I will bet good money that my simple radish salad recipe will change your life. Go ahead, try it and tell me you still see radishes only as a garnish. I dare you.

The combination of clean, crisp radishes and earthy truffles is magical. I had no idea this was true before I made these radish truffle sandwiches for the first time. It was just dumb luck, inspired by the classic French combination of radishes, butter and salt. But I'll take dumb luck and call it a flash of inspiration to anyone who asks.

Now I make these radish and truffle butter sandwiches as a nibble for almost every party I throw. There are always a few skeptics. They're always won over. The tray always ends up empty.

Notes: I make my own truffle butter, but you certainly don't have to. High-quality truffle butter is available at most gourmet stores. The grated fresh truffle is optional, too, but don't skip the sprinkle of truffle salt (I like Sabatino truffle sea salt). I've made these with the bread toasted and not - I prefer not, actually, but either way works.

P.S. Thank you Shockingly Delicious for calling these radish and truffle butter sandwiches "Best New Appetizer" - I'm honored!


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Radish and truffle butter tartines
A twist on the classic French combination of radishes and butter. The dusky truffle plays so well with the tangy radish that this has become one of my favorite cocktail nibbles.
Ingredients
  • 1 baguette, thinly sliced (about 30 pieces)
  • 1 bunch round red radishes
  • 4 Tbsp truffle butter (look for this at gourmet stores, or make your own truffle butter - click here for my recipe)
  • truffle salt (look for this at gourmet stores - can substitute sea salt)
  • freshly grated black truffle (optional)
Instructions
Lay the baguette slices out on a work surface. Using a mandoline, slice the radishes as thinly as you can. I leave the stem on and use that as a handle - if you use the safety holder that comes with your mandoline, your radish slices will end up with holes in them, which I find unattractive. Do be careful with your fingertips, though.To assemble: Spread a thin layer of truffle butter on each slice of baguette. Top with two overlapping slices of radish. Continue until all the bread slices are covered with radish, then sprinkle truffle salt lightly over the whole batch. Move the sandwiches to a serving platter. If using the fresh truffle, grate it over the sandwiches when they get to the serving platter - the errant bits of truffle look beautiful on the tray.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: about 30 pieces

6 comments:

Monet said...

What a simple, flavor-filled recipe. My mom loves radishes, but we don't have nearly enough recipes that utilize them. I am thrilled to share this with her (and she will be happy too!)

Erika Kerekes said...

Monet, if she likes this, she will LOVE the radish salad. Equally simple, incredibly delicious!

Dorothy at Shockinglydelicious.com said...

Oh yeah, these babies are THE BEST! I am so lucky to have been invited to your Trufflepalooza, because I got infected with fungi fever there, and that was a good thing.

I have also made your radish salad, and that is also quite good.

Radishes rule!

Erika Kerekes said...

@Dorothy - have you ever tried roasting radishes? I wonder how that would work....

She Paused 4 Thought said...

These are spectacular! Especially if you are lucky enough to find watermelon radishes.

Erika Kerekes said...

She Paused - try them with regular radishes, too. The watermelon radishes can be sweet. The sting of regular red radishes is pretty nice with the truffle butter.

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