Thursday, March 6, 2014

FFwD: Two Tartines from La Croix Rouge

I can't say that I was particularly excited about this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, except for the fact that its two components were easy. So easy that even my easily distracted self could handle preparing it on time, for once.

The recipe is really two recipes, if you can even call them that, for tartines made at a cafe in Dorie's neighborhood.

The Tartine Norvegienne--a slice of bread toasted, buttered, and layered with a slice of smoked salmon, capers, and ground pepper--sounded particularly unappetizing to me. I've never been a fan of smoked salmon, so I sprang for the pricier of the two options I could find. It wasn't actually expensive, it was just more expensive, so I figured it would give me my best shot of enjoying this.
Turns out, I did not hate this. In fact, I almost enjoyed it. I liked it enough that I plan to finish the pack of salmon instead of tossing it. Huzzah!

The second, Tartine Saint-Germain, was more my speed. It's basically a roast beef sandwich without the top piece of bread. Toast bread, smear with mayo, add thinly sliced cornichon (I used a normal baby dill pickle), and top with "paper-thin slices rarest-possible roast beef." I just used what was at the deli counter at the commissary, and I don't regret it.
The group prepared Helene's All-White Salad a few weeks back. I made the dish on time, but we traveled to Bologna the next day, and it derailed my efforts to blog about it, especially since I HATED this salad.
It's like Helene made a list of the most unappetizing raw things she could think of, and threw them together with the slightest bit of seasoning. Cabbage, celery, white mushrooms, and Granny Smith apples do not belong together, especially when bound by a dressing of egg yolk, Greek yogurt, salt, lemon, and olive oil.

No thanks.

I'm just mad that I wasted 1/2 cup of my precious produced-at-an-agriturismo-I-stayed-at olive oil on this.


16 comments:

  1. Sorry about the all-white-salad, but your open sandwiches are appreciated, right?

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  2. LOL...so glad you "almost" enjoyed the smoked salmon tartine :) I enjoyed them both. Yeah, I wasn't thrilled with the salad, but it was OK....sorry about the precious olive oil :(

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  3. Glad you don't have to throw out the rest of the salmon! :) I didn't make the salad because I hate mushrooms. Bummer that it was not good for you either!

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  4. Both your tartines look nice - glad to read that you did enjoy them, or almost enjoy both of them. I like the different kinds of bread that the Doristas chose for these open-faced sandwiches today. Sorry though that the salad was not received well.

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  5. I have long hated any form of smoked anything. But first Dorie brought me around to cured salmon and this week I also had smoked salmond and "I didn't hate it" either. Who knows what else I'll like by the time Dorie's done with me.

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  6. I'm sorry you didn't like the salad but I think lots of folks felt the same. I wonder why I liked it, actually. I think it was the mayo dressing. Your tartines look delicious. I don't like smoked salmon and didn't even attempt that one. Hope you have a nice weekend.

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  7. Glad you liked the tartines - I like weeks like this that make my life easy. The salad in retrospect was a bit meh - I didn't hate it, but it won't be appearing here again.

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  8. I didn't like the all-white salad either. Ick. I liked both tartines, but I prefered the Saint-Germaine too. Delicious! Yours look great!

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  9. It sounds like you would have liked more zesty flavor... I really recommend horseradish sauce on the roast beef and the salmon, well I guess you could buy some bagels?

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  10. I had to laugh about your travels with bread. Hubby and I had over packed a few bottles of wine once and it was no fun trying to re-arrange all of it at the airport. I enjoyed these little
    tartines, really simple to prepare and quite delicious if you like salmon which I do.

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  11. Hahaha! I love your description about the salad! It was not my favorite, but not as terrible as I thought it would be (I did serve it alongside a delicious crab salad though, so maybe it was a distraction). I thought these were tasty, though not the most adventurous. Glad you didn't hate the salmon (not my favorite) and liked the beef. Your tartines looked beautiful.

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  12. I guess "I didn't hate it" is as much as an endorsement as any :-)
    I think the all white salad would have been better without the mushroom and with something that wasn't white...

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  13. Sorry about your olive oil, and Helene’s Salad! I wasn’t crazy about that salad, but didn’t hate it either! I actually enjoyed both of these Tartines…they were definitely well received in my house!

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  14. Glad you enjoyed the tartines (or just about, in the case of the salmon). I thought they made a fabulous lunch. Sorry you didn't enjoy the salad - that one got a lot of mixed reviews.

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  15. I wasn't a fan of the all-white salad either although I did like the salad ingredients - especially the apples/Napa cabbage combo.The dressing didn't work for me at all. So, I'm with you on that salad. I am a smoked salmon fan so was okay with the tartine but won't give up my lox and bagel for it. But the BEST part of the entire blog was knowing you got rare roast beef from the commissary. Score one for the US government. Yeah I used olive oil from my precious can of special olive oil also. A little miffed about that.

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  16. Your tartines look delicious:) I skippped the White Salad.

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