sweet potato tartine
just so you know, i am alive and well, and my waistline is thriving here in paris!
it’s been almost a week since i’ve arrived and i’ve been eating out every single day because, well, i’ve been shacked up in a hotel and hadn’t had a proper kitchen until i checked into my #goals airbnb in odéon this past weekend.
and no, the pictures here are not of the apartment i will be living in for the next six months..but my goodness, i’ve been playing pretend parisienne for sure. to give you an idea, i shamelessly waltzed around the apartment in my silk jammies with april in paris by ella fitzgerald blasting in the background when i got out of bed this morning.
the swoon-worthy parquet wood floors, the ornate moldings on the walls and ceiling, the brass fixtures, haussmanian homes as my backdrop. i never knew my heart could sing so loudly.
the owner of this dream apartment, lily the filmmaker, recommended that i check out marché raspail today. marché (marghh-shaye) means market btw. and i’d totally recommend paying a visit too if you end up in saint germain on a sunday morning. there are oodles of *cheap* produce, cheese, bread, pickles, rotisserie chicken, wine, you name it!
i really wanted to cook something at home, but had no agenda in mind. i also hate going to the market without a game plan, but since i hadn’t put much thought into what i was going to make, i took my sweet ol’ granny time. i browsed around, went back and forth on a few ideas, and finally decided to make something with sweet potatoes since i just really missed my mom (and my mom is sweet potatoes). this root vegetable has an odd power of making me feel closer to her.
long story short, i thought these sweet potatoes were gogomas but it turns out they were actually just plain old orange sweet potatoes. it would’ve been nice to have a floraly sweet flavor that gogomas lend, but regular old sweet potatoes were just fine. instead, there’s a load of delicious pungent herbs and dressings so don’t plan on making this before going on a date. unless…you know, your partner is attracted to mustard, onion, garlic, vinegar breath. buuut if you’re single like a pringle. like me, you’re good to go!
xo, christine
SWEET POTATO TARTINE
ingredients
sweet potato salad
3 small sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 jalapeno, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon l’ancienne grain mustard
2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
tartine
1 tablespoon butter
pickled red onion
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon sea salt
for garnish
chives, chopped
good olive o
notes
to prep in advance: get started with the pickled red onions early! it’s pretty straight forward; put sliced pickles in a bowl with red wine vinegar, toss with salt, set aside and let the onion sweat and soak in the acidic vinegary goodness for at least 30 minutes.
sweet potato salad
wash and scrub sweet potatoes
in a boiling pot, fill to line where sweet potatoes can be fully immersed
bring water to a rolling boil, salt with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
drop in sweet potatoes, boil until softened. test by running a butter knife through, if it cuts easily, you’re good to go! should take around 20-30 minutes
remove sweet potatoes from water, run under in cold water until cooled down
in a mixing bowl, add cooked potato, butter, salt, shallots, pepper. using a potato masher, mash until potato bits are no bigger than the size of peas
mix in mayonnaise and mustard. mix until evenly combined
tartine
slice the baguette into even “tartine” slices
heat small pan up to a medium hear, drop in tablespoon of butter, let it completely melt and roll around the pan until the surface is evenly coated
toast both sides of baguette slices until golden brown. melt additional butter if needed
assembly
take toasted tartine slices, top with a tablespoon or so of potato salad, add pickled red onions, sprinkle with chives, drizzle with good olive oil.
bon appétit!
