Tag Archives: Open faced sandwiches

Roasted Cherries and Whipped Ricotta Tartines

Tartine is defined as an open faced sandwich, usually on toasted bread. It has come to mean “fancy toast”, as made popular by the charming Carrie Baird, one of my favourite cheftestants on Top Chef.

Tartines are an opportunity to use up all these little bits in the fridge and pantry, and call it dinner. This one came about because I had some cherries that were starting to go a bit soft. Cherries might not be the first fruit you think about roasting, but the heat of the oven causes the natural sugar in the cherries to caramelize resulting in a greater depth and intensity of cherry flavour!

I had a mix of Rainer and Bing cherries. Rainer cherry season is so short, I always get greedy and buy way more than we can possibly eat. This is a perfect solution for those leftover, slightly less than perfect cherries.

I seasoned the cherries with olive oil, a drizzle of honey and some thyme. They only take about 10 minutes in the oven. I was inspired by The Flavour Bible to pair cherries with thyme. It’s such an excellent resource book.

The whipped ricotta is an Ina Garten recipe. She starts with homemade ricotta, but gently tells us that store bought is fine. I had half a container of store bought, about to expire, languishing at the back of the middle shelf in my fridge, so I used that. The ricotta is mixed with a bit of feta, some cream cheese and a splash of lemon juice. It all gets buzzed in the food processor, for a creamy, tangy whipped dip.

I sliced up a baguette, on the diagonal, and toasted the slices, because we’re fancy here at salt and serenity. Leftover toasted sourdough slices would be very delicious.

Click here to print recipe for Roasted-Cherry-and-Whipped-Ricotta-Tartine Download

Autumn Butternut Squash and Ricotta Tartine

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A funny thing happens when your adult children come home for a visit. In July, my daughter moved into the cottage with me for most of the summer. I was thrilled about it, as we live in different cities, and I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like.

The kitchen starts filling up with things you don’t recall buying. My fridge boasted 3 varieties of kombucha, (cosmic cranberry, ginger berry and multi-green) 2 packages of probiotic capsules (for making non-dairy coconut yogurt), Croatian organic artisan chocolate (that tasted like wax, to my palate) and Skyr, which I’m still not sure how to pronounce properly.

The tea drawer (yes, we have an entire drawer devoted to tea), filled up with several varieties of ginger tea as well as some turmeric concoction. The pantry shelves featured 2 flavours of muesli, collagen powder and All-Dressed Chips.

One morning I opened my spice drawer and saw a rogue shaped jar of something called New Bae Seasoning. I decant all my spices into the same shape jar, and file them alphabetically. Please don’t judge me, it’s how I keep my serenity.When I asked my daughter about it she excitedly told me that it’s a blend of different spices (Himalayan Pink Salt, Paprika, Celery, Black Pepper, Ancho Chili Powder, Cayenne, Cardamom, Allspice, Mace, Bay Leaves), and makes everything you put it on taste better. That night we sprinkled some on diced sweet potatoes and roasted them. I was hooked. We used it all summer on fish, chicken and all our roasted and grilled veggies. It was even delicious sprinkled on top of hummus. When she left at the end of the summer, she took her jar with her, but left me the probiotic capsules!

I ordered my own jar, online at purefeast.com . A few other online retailers carry it as well, but they seem to be out of stock when I last checked.

Here’s how to make these delicious tartines (that’s french for open-faced sandwich, because we’re fancy around here!)

I used butternut squash and sliced it very thin. Use your favourite fall veggie. Roasted broccoli would also be delicious.
Make sure you start with some really good bread and toast or grill it, so that it’s crunchy. I found a new bakery in my neighbourhood here in Ottawa that sells amazing artisan breads. If you’re in Ottawa, check our Mamie Clafouti’s on Richmond Rd.
If you have an extra 15 minutes, make your own ricotta. I will include the recipe in the link below. But if time is tight, use store-bought. It will still be really good. Choose an assertive green to top your tartine with. I found micro arugula, but regular arugula or some shredded radicchio would be good choices. You want something bitter to counter balance the spicy-sweet squash and mild ricotta. A drizzle of honey is an excellent way to finish.

Click here to print recipe for Autumn Ricotta and Squash Tartines.

Roasted Cauliflower Tuna Melts

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Apple orchards, pumpkin patches, haunted houses, whatever your version of autumn joy is, I hope you’re out there, savoring the season. Have you heard about leaf peeping? My niece Rachel, who is up on all the latest trends, informed me about it. She lives in Seattle now, but grew up in Florida. I told her that those of us who live in the Northeast have been peeping for years!

As for me, my fall bliss involves cauliflower. I’m having as bit of a love affair with it this autumn. But who can blame me when stunning beauties like these keep popping up at the market. A tuna melt is my default go-to when I return home from holidays and the cupboard is bare. I always have some kind of bread in the freezer, a can of tuna in the pantry and a small wedge of cheddar in the fridge. Bonus points if the cheese is mold-free and the tuna is packed in olive oil.

Truthfully, even the humblest of ingredients are more special when served on toast, and this fact is celebrated in Jill Donenfeld’s new book, Better on Toast. I took her Cauliflower Melts recipe and tarted them up with the addition of Italian tuna in olive oil. Slice the cauliflower into slabs, brush with garlic kissed olive oil and roast until golden brown.
Pistachios add crunch and golden raisins add a welcome hit of sweetness. Tuna in olive oil just tastes better than water packed tuna. Look for a Spanish or Italian brand if you can find it. Unlike water packed tuna, which can be dry, olive oil packed tuna is exceptionally moist, so no mayo is needed. If you have access to some really good artisan bread, go for it. Slice thickly please and give it a light toasting before assembling.I love the addition of nutty Gruyere cheese, but feel free to use cheddar or any great melting cheese. Hot and bubbly, these are hearty knife and fork sandwiches, that help soften that abrupt hard landing that inevitably occurs when coming home after a holiday.