chive radish butter baguette
your new favorite buttered bread | Veggies on Toast #3
Before I get into today’s recipe I must give you a warning: after making this chive radish butter, I have consumed nothing but this chive radish butter. It is dangerous, but in the best way possible. Just want to throw that out there.
Knowing I wanted to create a recipe with radish for the next Veggies on Toast installment, I stumbled upon this post on Belle English’s Instagram — and I knew immediately I had to recreate it. I also knew I had to slather this radish butter on a baguette, because it all seemed so French, and I would really love to be in France right now, not in my apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey.
But radish is not only common in French cuisine — my Middle Eastern grandparents always put a plate of fresh radish and green onion out, claiming that eating them after a big meal aids with digestion (my Uncle Elias likes to call radish “natural 7-Up” for the same reason). More commonly in Middle Eastern cuisine, radishes are pickled, a perfect acidic accompaniment with heavier dishes like lamb.
So with this butter, I wanted to pay homage to that plate of radish and green onion, but decided to swap the green onion for chives as its less-astringent cousin. Who knew, a connector of French and Middle Eastern cuisines would be a little red vegetable?
the recipe: chive radish butter on toasted baguette
prep time: 25 minutes | chill time: 2+ hours | assembly time: 5 minutes
serves: 6-8 people
ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) high-quality* salted butter, room temperature
1 bunch (about 10) radishes
1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. flaky sea salt
1 French baguette
optional adds: pickled radish tops, thinly sliced ham, or a jammy egg
*high-quality butter is crucial here, but don’t get any fancy butter that already has sea-salt mixed in. I love Kerry Gold!
directions:
Prep your radishes: wash radishes thoroughly in cold water (paying extra attention to those leaves) and dry well. Tear the radish stems and leaves off the bulb, then slice the tops and bottoms off each radish. Set radishes aside.
What to do with the leaves? You can discard the leaves if you don’t like the taste, but I give them a quick pickle by combining them with 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp. water, 1/2 tbsp. sugar, 1/2 tbsp. sumac, and 1/2 tsp. salt. They make a great topping or side salad to this baguette!
Make the compound butter: prepare a loaf tin with plastic wrap or parchment paper and set aside. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add softened butter, finely chopped chives, and 1 tbsp. flaky sea salt, folding the butter until all the ingredients are incorporated and evenly dispersed.
Spread a 1/2” thick layer of the chive butter on the bottom the the loaf tin, then press the radishes, cut side down, in an even layer on top of the butter, about 1” apart from each other. Top radishes with remaining chive butter, spreading evenly and ensuring the butter gets in between the radishes to form a solid block around the radishes. Cover the top with plastic wrap, pressing against the butter, and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight.
Assemble the baguettes: if your baguette isn’t fresh, run it under water quickly (you want the outside slightly wet), and place it in a 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes — it’s just like new! Slice the baguette into three sections, and then slice each section in half. Top each baguette with a thick slice of the radish-chive butter (depending on how you cut the butter, some radishes might fall out — just push them back in!).
Enjoy the baguettes as open-faced, or put them together as a sandwich. Feel free to top them with ham, a jammy egg boiled for 6:30 minutes, or those pickled radish leaves.
xx
Brittany