Friday, June 7, 2013

FFwD: Goat Cheese and Raspberry Tartine


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie Group is Goat Cheese and Strawberry Tartine – I opted for a Raspberry version.




A tartine is traditionally an open-faced sandwich, but today the term tartine is often used to describe any French sandwich preparation. There are countless variations of tartine recipes using different meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, and herbs.

You would think that preparing an appetizer as simple and as rustic as this tartine would be easy, but still there were so many decisions…




First, there was the bread. The bread for the tartine can be bought ready-made or be homemade. Although Dorie opts for baguette as the bread base for her tartine, she mentions that thinly sliced pumpernickel would be nice – I opted for a dark rye bread with hazelnuts which is very similar to but has a slightly more subtle taste than pumpernickel. This dark rye bread which you can find at specialist bakeries or markets around here is certainly more interesting to us than the usual go to baguette.




Onto the cheese. Once the question of the bread question was settled – it is never easy to decide which bread to buy in this bread loving country - it was time to decide which cheese to use. The goat cheese I chose is a nice soft farmers´goat cheese that I bought at a country fair the other day – it just does not get more local than that.




Then onto the condiments. I opted for a delicious pepper called “pepper deluxe”, this is a crushed black highland pepper that grows in Sri Lanka and is fermented with salt. We tasted it for the first time a few weeks back, it is fabulous and it adds a distict but well-balanced spiciness and subtly saltiness to a number of dishes, including sandwiches - perfect for these tartines.




As far as the strawberries are concerned, I opted for raspberries instead – in my humble opinion, there is no fruit that tastes better with goat cheese than raspberries, simple as that, so, that´s what I used.




And last but not least the optional aged balsamic vinegar. I used a raspberry balsamic vinegar that harmonized with the fresh raspberries, not too sweet, not too overpowering. Pure bliss!




These tartines with a delicious twist seemed perfect as an appetizer. If your sandwiches or tartines are somewhat lacking in inspiration or if you are looking to brighten up your lunch or dinner or to make afternoon tea more substantial, this delicious tartine is for you. Take any variety of bread that you like, get good spreadable goat cheese(preferably from a goat farmer and cheese maker you know), top with fresh summer fruit, add a bit of pepper or salt to taste and maybe some aged balsamic vinegar (why not white balsamic vingar), maybe some herbs such as fresh chives, et voilà, you will be equally as delighted with this recipe as we were.




Once you have decided on the different delicious elements of these tartines, they take no time to make and are certainly worth trying.

Who would have thought that a recipe as simple as this would be so wonderful. Again, with so few elements, this was all about the quality of the ingredients used! Of course, the better the ingredients used, the more delicious tasting your tartines will be!

To see all the other individual interpretations of the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group, please click here.

Bon week-end! Bonne fin de semaine!



41 comments:

  1. This looks delicious... What a great combinations for flavors.. These would be perfect for a party as tiny finger foods!!!

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    1. Thank you very much, indeed, ideal fingerfood, appetizer or picnic fare!

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  2. Oh Andrea…The bread you chose is incredible looking! So beautiful with the chunks of nuts. Lovely photos…I love the raspberries, a perfect choice! Have a great weekend!

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    1. Kathy, the bread is actaully my favorite bread by far, dark rye with hazelnuts is hearty yet not too overpowering and the hazelnuts are mellow and harmonize very nicely with any kind of cheese and this creamy goat cheese in particular.

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  3. That bread slice looks stunning, I don't have that here! The tartine sounds delicious, perfect combo of fruit with cheese!
    Haben Sie ein schönes Wochenende ;)

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    1. Inês, thank you very much - the combination of cheese and fruits works very nicely - I have had strawberries with cheese before but I prefer raspberries with this kind of fresh cheese, so this was a very nice appetizer for us!

      Bom fim de semana! - Ich wünsche dir auch ein schönes Wochenende!

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  4. Great choices for all the ingredients. I'll have to try this again when raspberries are in season here (not too much longer to wait). I especially like the sound of that hazelnut bread.

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    1. Teresa, glad that you like my choices of ingredients, the bread is just wonderful and I know that you would love to eat it and the raspberries were just too good to resist, besides, I love the combination of those berries with goat cheese.

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  5. I love the look of that bread! I wish I could try a slice. And raspberries seem like a lovely idea, too. I made mine fairly traditional, other than using a mission fig balsamic reduction. Delicious!

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    1. Thank you very much - raspberries are a nice choice if you can find really nice ones and it is amazing how wonderful they go together with that dark bread. Truly delicious!

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  6. I actually love German bread. There's this great German boulangerie near where I used to live in Paris, from which I used to buy "pain noir allemand" all the time (I've no idea of the English/German name).
    Sadly, I have yet to find German bread here in Singapore. Even a good baguette is actually quite hard to come by here.. sigh.
    Loving the look of those raspberries!

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    1. Ah, you mean the wonderful "Schwarzbrot" which literally translates as "pain noir" - the bread that I used is a kind of Schwarzbrot with hazelnuts and it is delicious with goat cheese. It is nice to have many choices as far as breads are concerned and I was actually planning to bake my own but I run out of time, this time!

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  7. I loved this post. Mostly because I think I would have made all the same choices! I adore goat cheese and I eat it every occasion that I can think of...and then, of course, my mother taught me to love a good rye bread from a very young age :-) Thank you for sharing these beautiful tartines. Now I'm off to make some of my own!

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    1. Monet, it is so very nice to read that we would have shared the same food choices - isn´t a good rye bread virtually impossible to resist - I love it and I must admit that I am rather happy with the broad range of breads available in this country of very serious bread lovers.

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  8. I think we would all have gladly chosen that delicious bread for these! I used supermarket goat cheese as it was all i had...and still good..but I think that fresh goat from the farmer's market would have been fantastic and I will certainly pick some up this morning as I'm not quite ready to forget about this appetizer.

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    1. Trevor, I certainly hope that I do not overdo it when I talk about the importance of really good quality ingredients - actually, I spend so much time looking for a perfect place to shop for certain ingredients that it is hard to hide my enthusiasm sometimes - why go for the supermarket item if you can get really good local fare but that is not always possible, I know, I try to support artisinal manufacturers though, whenever reasonably possible.

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  9. That bread is gorgeous. The care taken in choosing each ingredient must have really made the resulting dish shine.

    Fresh goat cheese is one of my favorite cheeses these days. We have a market that sources from a near by producer and I have not found anything quite like it.

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    1. Cher, glad I am not the only one who goes crazy over goat cheese and when I discovered this particular one, I was quite pleased to have found a new go to place to buy my favorite goat cheese.

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  10. I do like your choices! I do love rye bread. I went to lunch yesterday with some friends. They got salads as proper ladies should. Not me--I went for the Ham and Cheese on Rustic Rye, and enjoyed every bite!
    Your tartine looks wonderful, I would savor every bite.

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    1. Yes, a hearty sandwich or tartine is what I would chose any day over a salad in a restaurant - not that I do not enjoy salad, on the contrary, we eat it every day at home, but a tartine such as this would be what I would chosse from the menue instead as well. Thanks for the nice comment!

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  11. So few elements and so much flavor. I loved this one too. Will have to give it a try with the raspberries. It's pouring rain here at the moment, but we're hopeful that it will clear up later in the day. But after such a spectacular week, I can't really complain. Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

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    1. Rose, thank you for your comment - you are right, so few ingredients but if chosen well, so much flavor.

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  12. Oh my. That bread is unbelievable. And I never even heard of that type of pepper- as usual you educated me in your post and I am anxious to try these ideas. Also very nice to hear that you prefer raspberries with goat cheese - I will definitely give this a go around with that fruit and keep a look out for raspberry balsamic. I have a better chance of getting my hands on that that your lovely bread in this area. PS- that shot with the drip of balsamic is gorgeous- it is almost an "action shot" since you caught it so perfectly before it fell !!

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    1. tricia, thank you so much for your thoughtful and kind comment - raspberries are perfect with goat cheese, all, I mean all my taste testers agreed there with me and already asked for a repeat performance of these very tartines - I will gladly oblige soon. How nice that you enjoy my photography as well. It is not always easy (as you know) to get that one shot that makes us happy but in the end it is always worth investing a bit of extra time in.

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  13. You certainly took the time to choose the best ingredients you could Andrea, and it shows! The hazelnut flavor and pepper sounds like a perfect extra layer. Tartines are a wonderful meal, just like pasta. Have a great sunday!

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    1. Paula, tartines are just wonderful - kind of like a canvas and sometimes it is fun to "up-grade" them a bit from good to even better.

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  14. Beautiful presentation, all the ingredients were unbelievable, especially the bread. This was such a delicious little appetizer, wasn't it?
    Have a great weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Nana, glad that this easy recipe was such a huge suceess with everyone!

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  15. It's been so fun to see all the variations of this fun dish! Love yours Andrea, so unique and beautiful. Your combination of ingredients is just stunning and I know, super delicious! Love that close up of the raspberries, a piece of art work, for sure!

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    1. Thanks, Chris, the different components were interesting to put together - love playing around with a "plain" recipe and this French-style sandwich was just calling for a certain amount of personal interpretation, I thought it was delicious that way and my beloved taste testers wholeheartedly agreed.

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  16. You've taken this week's recipe to a whole new level. Well done, Andrea. First, the bread looks delicious for any reason but is a unique choice for this tartine. I feel the same way about raspberries. Michael and I had vibrant and healthy raspberry bushes in our yard here in Aspen. It was such a luxury to have raspberries in the late Summer/early Fall. I have never heard of pepper deluxe. Hmmmmm And, the raspberry balsamic. Over-the-top. What delightful photos for this tasty presentation.

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    1. Thank so very much, Mary, I was just getting bored with (grilled) baguette and we have so many choices of delicious and interesting breads around here, I just could not resist using this one and the raspberries and goat cheese are meant for each other.

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  17. Where do I begin?! Love the bread, love your photos, love the berries!
    Absolutely perfect :)

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    1. Sanya, Ia ppreciate your lovely comment, thank you! So glad that you enjoyed this post!

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  18. Now you reminded me - I think I've tried goat cheese and raspberry combination before! It's very unique and it's not something common in Asian food background. We always have raspberries so have to give it a try at home!

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    1. Nami, the combination of raspberries and goat cheese is different yet surprinsingly delicious - not really a combination that either of us grew up with I think but there are so many taste combinations out there to be discovered and this one should not be missed.

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  19. I somehow never got here last week. Sorry about that. All of your choices look perfect. I've never seen a bread like that, but it looks amazing.

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    1. Betsy, if you enjoyed my German lentil soup I have a feeling that you would certainly enjoy this bread, it is nutty and hearty and pairs so well with goat cheese and other cheeses but also with fruits such as these lovely raspberries.

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  20. ooh the rye bread looks amazing!! :)

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    1. Thank you, Alice, the rye bread with the hazelnuts is one of my very favorite breads - it is always so hard to decide which bread to buy around here, choices, choices.

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  21. I want to move to Germany & be your sous chef!

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