{"id":3530,"date":"2018-09-30T20:44:23","date_gmt":"2018-09-30T20:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=3530"},"modified":"2018-09-30T20:44:23","modified_gmt":"2018-09-30T20:44:23","slug":"egalite-fraternite-andbutter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=3530","title":{"rendered":"Egalit\u00e9, Fraternit\u00e9 and\u2026Butter!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Normandy and Brittany<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWalk in, waddle out\u201d was how a woman I met on my trip to Normandy and Brittany put it, referring to how we often felt after a particularly wonderful meal.<\/p>\n

Looking back, it\u2019s hard to single out one spectacular food or dish. Would it be the oysters eaten on a sailboat off the coast of the Cancale peninsula near Mt. St. Michelle, shucked as fast as we downed them by Jerome,\u00a0 the boat captain, an \u201cI\u2019m too sexy for myself\u2019 type?\u00a0 The pudding-textured fresh, young Camembert, ordered and very kindly shared at Coeur Verte, a family-run restaurant near Mont Dol in Brittany\u2014the cheese the consistency of Greek yogurt with a taste like heaven.\u00a0 But I\u2019m omitting my pigeon at the same restaurant, served with the feet sticking over the edge of the dish (very chic, tr\u00e8s French) and cooked<\/p>\n

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sexy legs<\/p><\/div>\n

to perfection.\u00a0 Also overlooked, the ubiquitous Kouign-amann, (pronounced \u201cqueeen amon\u201d), a classic Breton pastry whose name comes from the Breton words for \u201cbutter\u201d and \u201ccake.\u201d \u00a0It looks unpreposing but that caramelized top is TDF.\u00a0 Let\u2019s not overlook a particular Grand Marnier souffl\u00e9 or the<\/p>\n

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Kougn amann, a butter-lover’s delight<\/p><\/div>\n

tiny fish packed with bits of pimenton we ate as part of a semi-\"\"impromptu picnic, as well as every really good croissant that was often part of a breakfast that might also include a special quiche and homemade preserves.<\/p>\n

Lest this sounds like all I did was eat, I also climbed the three hundred fifty steps to the top of Mt. Sainte<\/p>\n

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Mt. Sainte Michelle<\/p><\/div>\n

Michelle as well as the 17th<\/sup> century bell tower in Batz-sur-Mur complete with narrow, winding steps and a dubious rope handrail, walked around the Normany beaches and the Guerande salt marshes where the famous Fleur de Sel is produced, and hiked through various parks and around lakes.<\/p>\n

At home I think of butter as something I occasionally use on bread and often cook with. In this part of France where La Brun, French Simmental and Jersey cows graze the fields, butter is a religion.\u00a0 It has a totally different taste from American butter and I often ate more (delicious) bread then I\u2019d planned simply to have a platform for the butter.\u00a0 And why not?<\/p>\n

Although I did not eat this lovely sandwich on this trip, I\u2019ve enjoyed it many other times. It\u2019s easy and looks as good as it tastes. If you can get French butter, by all means do so. Ditto something close to a real baguette.<\/p>\n

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Radish and Butter Sandwich<\/strong><\/p>\n

This makes enough for two servings as a nice hors d’oeuvre.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>2 tsp. unsalted cultured butter.\u00a0 (The recipe suggests Plugra although real French butter has it beat every way)<\/p>\n

1<\/sup>\u20444<\/sub> tsp. sea salt (Fleur de Sel would be good)<\/p>\n

2 slices baguette, cut on the bias (see picture)<\/p>\n

2 large radishes, scrubbed clean and sliced into 1<\/sup>\u20448<\/sub>” rounds<\/p>\n

Fresh ground black pepper<\/p>\n

In a small bowl, with a small spatula blend together butter and salt until butter is soft and airy. Spread baguette slices with butter, arrange radish slices on top, and finish with a grind or two of pepper.<\/p>\n

And of course you\u2019ll eat this with a glass of good (preferably French) white wine. \u00a0\u00c1 votre saint\u00e9! Vive la France!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWalk in, waddle out\u201d was how a woman I met on my trip to Normandy and Brittany put it, referring to how we often felt after a particularly wonderful meal. Looking back, it\u2019s hard to single out one spectacular food … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[424,534,535,343],"class_list":["post-3530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baguette","tag-butter","tag-croissantes","tag-oysters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3530"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3540,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530\/revisions\/3540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}