Butter Dipped Radishes

May 12, 2015
Food,Recipes

J’adore radishes with butter and salt. It’s simple in concept yet deliciously complex, comforting and oh so French in flavor. The classic way is to grab a fresh radish by it’s stem, dunk it in softened butter and then roll it in a bit of sea salt. It really doesn’t get any better. Or does it? While dining at Chef Daniel Humm’s Nomad Hotel restaurant, in New York a few weeks ago, I was served up a wooden block of vibrant red radishes partially coated in a shell of creamy butter and with an accompaniment of fleur de sel for dipping. Butter and radishes were so preciously presented in one easy, glorious bite. Brilliant. So obviously my inner Francophile was just dying to try it for myself. And I must say, my entertaining game has been stepped with that extra bit of . . . I dunno, je ne sais quoi.

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I don’t discriminate with it comes to radishes but French breakfast are a bit more mild if you don’t love the bitterness of traditional summer radishes. Wash them well and trim the roots. I like to alternate trimming the bottoms straight across and at a diagonal so they can lay flat at different angles. Dry them with a paper towel and chill in the fridge until you’re ready to coat them.

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The key is fresh, crisp radishes, high quality unsalted butter and the best sea salt you can find. And the trick to this is tempering the butter. Sounds intimidating, right? It’s not. To be honest, I skip the whole double boiler thing and simply put the entire stick of butter into a bowl and zap it in the microwave for about 25-30 seconds. You want the butter to be less than halfway melted so watch it carefully. Whisk it all together and you’ll get a silky, opaque consistency. And there you have it, you’ve got tempered butter. If the butter is translucent, you’ve overheated it. You can let it all set up again and pop it back in the microwave for less time.

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Take the radishes out of the fridge. Make sure they are completely dry before dipping them in the butter. If the butter starts to get gloopy, pop it back in the microwave for about 5 seconds to smooth it out.

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Lay the dipped radishes on a Silpat or baking sheet lined with wax paper.

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Let them set in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. And don’t forget the salt!

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(images by HonestlyYUM)

BUTTER DIPPED RADISHES

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick of unsalted, good quality butter
  • 3 bunches of assorted radishes
  • fleur de sel or Maldon Sea Salt

Directions:

  • Rinse the radishes thoroughly with cold water, removing all dirt and sand. Trim the roots and some of the stalks. Dry and keep in the refrigerator until ready to dip.
  • In a small bowl, microwave the stick of butter for about 25-30 seconds – or until the butter is barely half melted.
  • Remove from microwave and whisk until the consistency is smooth and thick and the color is pale.
  • Dip the radishes into the tempered butter and place onto a baking sheet with wax paper or a Silpat.
  • Let the radishes set, on the baking sheet, in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
  • Serve with fleur de sel or flake sea salt for dipping.
  • Enjoy!

Conversation

cannot imagine bragging about using a microwave on a cooking website but okay!

And i cant imagine leaving a comment like this on someone’s blog

Go out and get laid, nerd.

These look gorgeous! I love the way the butter coating dresses them up! However the butted I used (Kerrygold Unsalted) is much thinner than your photo. Can you share what brand you used?

Thanks! I can’t remember the brand, but you do need to let the butter set up a bit before dipping. It will thicken as it cools, and should be pretty thick when you dip you radishes. If it was too thin, your butter may have been too warm. You can also dip them a couple times to thicken the butter coating. Hope that helps!

My friend/coworker got me hooked on radishes with butter as a low-carb snack. I couldn’t believe it when Buzzfeed linked me to this as one of the foods you must make in June! Coworker said he had no idea it was a “thing” to eat radishes with butter. He just likes putting butter on things. Anyway, I thought you might want to know how people stumble to your page, so that’s my story. You take beautiful photos, by the way. Have a great day!

I’ve eaten radishes the french way for 20+ years but never ever did we think to melt the butter and coat them to look pretty. Maybe we were just little french radish piggy’s and couldn’t wait so we just sliced butter, salted and popped it all in our mouths. Thanks for enlightening me that these can be company worthy!

i have no idea how i missed this post – but this recipe is just genius. i cannot wait to butter-coat my radishes (and anything else that may be lying around because this butter just looks SO GOOD)! yum!

This is the best idea! Trying it this weekend.

Oh my gosh! These are so beautiful, and sound UH-MAZING! What a perfect, simple, delicious idea! xo

As soon as I saw this I thought yay the Nomad radishes! Had no idea about the tempered butter, love that. Also love the microwave over double boiler, I rarely use a double boiler. Microwaves are sooo much easier and can give you the exact same result.

whoa, these are so gorgeous!!!! i’m having a macaron making party next weekend and i am going to make these for it!!!

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