Cooking French cuisine can easily be an overwhelming and involved all day affair: I remember a particular Christmas Day in which I spent, no joke, three hours peeling pearl onions and dredging beef in flour for the roux of my Boeuf Bourguignon. Classic French masters like Escoffier prized the visual aspect of dining, creating towering displays of garnishes and elaborate sculptures of sugar nets. This summer I decided to give myself a break and go back to the basics!
Butter, radishes, chive blossoms, arugula, baguette. These five simple ingredients combined, create a delicious and classic French summer dinner. The last thing I want to do when the mercury passes the ninety degree mark is turn on my oven or stove and fresh, crisp vegetables are the perfect solution for dinner! Assembling your perfect sandwich hinges on not entirely slicing your baguette and instead leaving one edge intact (kind of like a hot dog bun) this way all your ingredients stay put in your sandwich! Starting off with butter on both sides of the bread gives the vegetables something to stick to so they don’t slide around when you take a bite, and who doesn’t love a little extra butter? Thinly slice your radishes and load them on your sandwich, if you like it spicy add a few extra, but remember the arugula will have a little kick too! Next add a handful of fresh arugula and garnish it all with a few beautiful chive blossoms!