Friday, March 7, 2014

FFwD - Two Tartines from La Croix-Rouge


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group are “Two Tartines from la Croix-Rouge” – two open-faced sandwiches fashioned after some well-known lunchtime treats from the famous Bar de la Croix-Rouge in Paris, France.




The first Tartine is called “Tartine Norvégienne”, meaning that the slice of bread is topped with butter (I used cream cheese), slices of smoked salmon (ours was from Norway!), capers, and thin slices of organic lemon. As far as the choice of bread is concerned, these sandwiches apparently are served at the Café on a “pain Poilâne”, the famous sourdough country bread from the Poilâne bakery in Paris. For our sandwiches, I chose a rye and sourdough loaf with a dark crust. There are so many different varieties of bread available in this country, that I often have a hard time deciding which one to use – the bread that I chose for our tartines is one we all enjoy and it is hearty enough to stand up to both toppings in today´s recipe.




So as far as the “Tartine Norvégienne” is concerned, all I can say is that we love smoked salmon...




...and we love capers




...and we love the freshness that lemons bring to this type of sandwich – although this is a common sandwich treat at our house, we all really enjoyed Dorie´s version.




The second Tartine is called “Tartine St-Germain”, meaning that the slice of bread is topped with mayonnaise, gherkins and slices of roast beef. Another easy lunchtime sandwich since perfectly prepared and thinly sliced roast beef can be found at every good butcher´s shop around here.




What is not to love about a sandwich like this – although I usually prepare a fresh tartar sauce to go with roast beef, a good-quality mayonnaise is also delicious with this type of sandwich. The tangy gherkins are a perfect match to the tender slices of beef – whether they are finely chopped, sliced, or finely minced as part of the tartar sauce.




To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for “Two Tartines from La Croix-Rouge” on pages 42-43.



61 comments:

  1. Your photos are fantastic, especially the shot of the caper. I also love the idea of chopping up the pickles, they look wonderful spread over the sandwich
    I enjoyed both of these little treats for dinner. Have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. Nana, the capers are fun to photograph - you can see all the deatils of that tiny berry if you look real close...glad that you enjoyed both kinds of sandwiches - we did too - as well as this post! Thank you for the kind words!

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  2. Gorgeous pics. Our salmon was from Norway too and it was delicious.

    I'm hearing good reports about this weekend's weather so I hope that you enjoy it!

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    1. Rose, oh, the weather is so nice around here - spend a lot of time taking pictures for future posts and just enjoyed the sunshine - thank you for the kind comment!

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  3. Everything you make looks very elegant Andrea, and this is no exception. Your photography is beautiful. I hope you are back on your feet and full of energy these days.

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    1. Guyla, thank you so much for asking - I am back on my feet and almost all recovered - still taking it easy a bit but feeling great and energized - we were bessed with wonderful weather lately, so Ihave been takeing a lot of walks out in the fresh air. So nice that you enjoy the pictures in this post! I tried to catch the sunliight and make these sandwiches look thier best.

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  4. You manage to make everything look so pretty, even stuff on toast! Loved this week's lineup.

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    1. Gaye, thank you so much - this weeks´"stuff on toast" or rather bread was quite well received!So, what better way to honor the humble sandwich than take nice pictures of it?!

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  5. Nein, Andrea, wer solche "Stullen" so appetitlich serviert bekommt, darf nicht meckern... sicherlich gibt es eine Spülmaschine :-)
    Wie gerne würde ich in diese Tartines beissen! Wie oft die Sonne beim Fototermin mitspielt!

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    1. Liebe Wally, ja, es gibt eine Spülmaschine bei uns, die scheint den ganzen Tag zu laufen bei dem benutzten Geschirr was so anfällt. Im Ernst, das Küchentuch habe ich in einem meiner Lieblingsläden in Bonn gefunden, ich konnte einfach nicht wiederstehen. Schön, dass dir die Fotos und der Post gefallen! Das freut mich!
      Liebe Grüße aus dem sonnigen Bonn - es ist doch tatsächlich 20 Grad heute!

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  6. Awesome lighting in the pictures!

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    1. Emily, thank you very much - glad that you enjoy the pictures - tons of sunshine this week. We are not complaining.

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  7. These look so delicious and, as you say, so simple. Until I started blogging, I had never heard of a tartine. And when I looked it up in Wikipedia, there was no reference to them being French at all - isn't that funny? Regardless - I love open-face sandwiches because my favorite part of the sandwich is the filling and this gives you a better ration of bread to filling. On my 22 birthday, I was in Paris (that was the summer I lived in Heidelberg) and I went to Poilâne with a friend for some bread. Even then it was well-known, but not as it is today. I asked them about their ovens and to my surprise, they took us downstairs and showed us through the entire place. It was so cool, and a wonderful memory to have! Gute Wünsche für ein wunderbares Wochenende! ~ David

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    1. Dear David, now I am seriously jealous...I seem to be one of the very few ones who has not had the pleasure of visiting that very famous bakery - I am amazed that you were able to visit the entire bakery. I am not so sure that would be possible these days, but who knows?! In any case, if I visit Paris in the near future, I will make sure to drop by Poilâne, for sure! As far as the "tartines" are concerned, I had never heard of that expression either before I opened Dorie´s cookbook. Thank you so much for the wonderful comment, dear friend!
      Ich wünsche euch beiden ein ganz tolles Wochenende und ganz liebe Grüße aus dem sehr, sehr sonnigen Bonn!
      Andrea

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  8. your photographs are lovely. they are making me crave for the picnic season to arrive.

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    1. Tanusree, spring has arrived around here - it was about 20 degrees Celsius yesterday, perfect time for picnics. But these open-faced sandwiches were served in our garden for lunch.

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  9. Finally someone who loves smoked salmon. I am surprised at how many people don't like it. I think in the New York area it is a given that you are going to like it.. we just couldn't image bagels with out it. I have never had tartar sauce on roast beef only on fish, will have to try it.

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    1. Diane, smoked salmon is a big hit at our house - we love eating it with srcambled eggs - actually a lot of people around here enjoy smoked salmon on their sandwiches. Personally, I so love eating capers, cream cheese and tomatoes with it. Thank you for the comment!

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  10. These look wonderful, I do have Dorie's book, will have to go back and pay particular attention to those pages. This is really the perfect way to eat a sandwich, not so much bread.

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    1. Cheri, I know that you enjoy Dorie´s recipe very much and this "recipe" is certainly worth trying - well, it is almost a recipe, more like a "non-recipe" for open-faced sandwiches we we enjoyed quite a bit.

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  11. I'm always just blown away by your photography! Every photo looks amazing. Happy that you liked these. I thought they were terrific too. And a good reminder to just make these (or something like them!).

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    1. Candy, sometimes these simple meals with wonderful ingredients are just the best! Thank you for the kind comment!

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  12. Your photos and presentation are absolutely stunning, Andrea! Just beautiful! You make everything you photograph look like a work of art…a true gift! These were quite good and it seems like they were a winner all around! My husband loved them! Have a great weekend!

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    1. Kathy, so nic ethat you like the photography - it was fun taking pictures of these humble, yet delicious opem-faced sandwiches - what a wonderful lunchtime treat these were for us.

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  13. Both of the sandwiches look great and I can just imagine how good the bread us too. I think Germany has some of the best breads I have ever had.

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    1. how good the bread "was" is what I should have typed.

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    2. Karen, you are absolutly right, bread is a "big thing" in this country - however you do have to find a good bakery which is not always the easiest of tasks. Thank you so much for your kind words!

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  14. Andrea, your tartines look gorgeous, especially the smoked salmon ones. I really enjoyed both kinds. I was already intrigued that you use tartar sauce with roast beef. I really love tartar sauce, but here, it is usually eaten with fried fish. It never occurred to me to try it with meat. Next time I enjoy a roast beef sandwich (or tartine), I will mix some up to spread on the bread first. Hope you are doing well and enjoying the weekend.

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    1. Betsy, thank you so much, tartar sauce is often served with roast beef in this country, sometimes we serve small boiled potatoes along with the meat, to round out the meal - it is quite a nice easy lunch or dinner treat, I am sure that you would enjoy that!
      The weekend was wonderful - the weather is crazy warm around here these days, almost like summer.

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  15. Beautiful job. The tartines look fabulous.

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    1. Geraldine, thank you so much - glad we all seem to have enjoyed these lovely tartines.

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  16. You make these simple sandwiches so elegant, Andrea! I loved these, too. I may even have more tomorrow...

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    1. Teresa, no excuse for not making some open-faced French-style sandwiches look their very best. Thank you for the kind comment!

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  17. I love a simple tartine. I just picked up the most delicious hearth bread. I will be making varieties of these lovely bites soon. Thank you for sharing, sweet friend!

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    1. Monet - thank you so much - aren´t these simple tartines with the best ingredients that one can find just the best?!

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  18. Andrea doll, my lil Daisy loves smoked salmon. So we just had some w homemade crepes yday morning!
    She's not a fan of capers, though, which is odd.
    These open-faced sandwhiches are the sort of thing that I could just sit and eat, eat, eat, EAT til I pop!
    Thanks for sharing. Hope you had a very lazy w/end. Wishing you a wonderful Monday, full steam ahead. xoxo

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    1. Colette, we have fans of smoked salmon and capers and tartines at home - just lucky - and the ones that do not like capers could easily pick them off these lovely French open-faced sandwiches - that´s what is so fun about serving these., no "bread covers", so you can see what you get! Thank you for the wonderful comment!

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  19. So pretty, Andrea, and refreshing. I will admit that Michael Hirsch would think it a travesty to waste smoked salmon and creme cheese on a piece of bread, no matter how good it was. Without a bagel, for him, smoked salmon and creme cheese just didn't work. In my wildest imagination, I have never thought of using tartar sauce with roast beef. How interesting and, just out of curiosity, I will try it. I hope you are back to feeling 100%. Your Posts are marvelous.

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    1. Mary, I love, love bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese - but, alas, bagels are very hard to come by here, good ones, that is, just not a traditional "bready item" in this country - for Dorie´s recipe I chose a sourdough/rye bread that seemed to go very well with these wonderful toppings. Eating tartar sauce and roast beef together is quite common arond here - add some bolied potatoes and you have a full meal. Thank you so much for the kind comment, dear friend!

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  20. wow, Fabulous photography my friend!!!!
    i think i'm gonna enjoying party at your house for sure then.....

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    1. Dedy, that´s nice - a party with these tartines as appetizers and wonderful guests such as you, sounds perfectly wonderful to me.

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  21. My dearest Andrea, these look so good! It's breakfast time here right now and I'm hungry, but too cold and lazy to get up and eat something! Needless to say, these are making my mouth water. I had to chuckle at Diane's comment, I don't like smoked salmon! I like it other wise, but for some reason not smoked. I'm a bread fiend so any sandwich is ok with me! Unlike David, I prefer more bread and less filling!! I do llove the roast beef one with the gherkins. Hope you're having a wonderful day!

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    1. Dear Nazneen, when I visit blogs in the morning before I had a chance to have breakfast, I often get sooo hungry just by looking at the pictures - so I know what you mean. The topping were liked all around, so was the bread - I guess in this country people really do enjoy their sandwiches. Thank you so very much for your very kind comment!

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  22. Wow, these are gorgeous (not that I'd expect anything less!). You've put me in the mood for a few more tartines!!!

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    1. Liz, thank you for your kind words - you are making me quite the happy blogger!

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  23. These tartines looks great...I love both of them and I sure would not know which one to start if had both in front of me...
    Hope you are enjoying your week Andrea :D

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    1. Juliana, thank you kindly, we all had a bit of both tartines - I ended up cutting them into smaller pieces after the pictures were taken.

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  24. Beautiful presentation and being a vegetarian I have no clue how this tastes but reading the comments above I bet this would have been the best combination...

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    1. Thank you, these tartines did taste wonderful - the combination of flavors was just right.

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  25. Reading this and looking at your photos has made me very hungry (and I still have 3 hours until dinner!). I love smoked salmon too.

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    1. Jora, thank you very much! Glad that you enjoyed this post!

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  26. Beautiful photos as always, Andrea. I feel I could almost reach into the screen and help myself to a smoked salmon tartine :)
    I always feel there is too much bread in a sandwich so a tartine is the perfect solution !

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    1. Hester, aren´t open-faced sandwiches with that fancy French name "tartine" just the best?!

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  27. The lighting on your pictures is lovely.
    I am so glad to hear you are continuing to do better.

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    1. Cher, thank you very much - glad that you enjoy my pictures - we have been very lucky weatherwise, lots of sunshine these days!

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  28. Love the vibrant color of yours!

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    1. Candy, thank you very much - so nice to hear that you enjoy the pictures in this post!

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  29. Love everything about this post Andrea. Gorgeous photos, stunning food combinations and beautiful words! I am definitely going to try both combinations, even for my lunch. Delicious! x

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    1. Laura, you might enjoy these French open-faced sandwiches, or better "tartines" - we really liked them but then, for us Europeans it is common to put smoked salmon and roast beef our breads. But it is also easy to forget how delcious these simple combinations really are. Thank you so much for your kind comment!

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