Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan Read Free Book Online

white pepper to taste
    If you're using Greek yogurt, you're good to start mixing; if you're using regular yogurt, you'll need to drain it in order to make it thicker. Line a strainer with a layer of damp cheesecloth, put the strainer over a bowl, spoon in the yogurt, and cover the whole setup with a plate or plastic wrap. Chill for about 4 hours, or for as long as overnight, then gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and squeeze gently to get the last bit of liquid out (discard the liquid that's accumulated in the bowl).
    Toss the cucumber into a bowl, sprinkle with about ½ teaspoon salt, stir, and let sit for 30 minutes.
    Drain off the liquid in the bowl, put the cucumber in a clean dish towel, and dry it by twisting the cloth and squeezing. Return the cucumber to the bowl and stir in all the remaining ingredients, including the yogurt. Taste for salt and white pepper, and, if you've got the time, chill for a few hours before serving.
     
    MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS OR 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
     
    SERVING
Tzatziki should be served cold and simply. While it's often served as a dip for raw vegetables, it's good with crackers, spread on thick toasted country bread, added to a sandwich, spooned over a hamburger, or, dare I suggest it, scooped up with potato chips.
     
    STORING
Covered and refrigerated, tzatziki will keep for about 2 days. Stir before serving.

Sardine Rillettes
    T IME WAS, NOT SO LONG AGO, that if you said "rillettes," it was understood that you were talking about a rich, salty spread made from pork, goose, or duck slowly cooked in its own fat. Nowadays rillettes is just as likely to be piscine as porcine and more than likely to be lighter and less rich. While salmon rillettes ( [>] ) is the one you find most often at restaurants and cocktail parties, sardine rillettes is giving it a run for first place.
    This rillettes, made in under 10 minutes, is a combination of canned sardines, shallots, herbs, and cream cheese (low-fat, if you'd like). You can use skinless, boneless fillets, but I think you get more flavor if you buy sardines in olive oil, bone them yourself (it takes a second per fish), and leave the skin in place. Obviously the cream cheese is an American stand-in, but it's a very good one. In France you'd use
fromage frais,
a soft, smooth, mild cheese that is as common as yogurt and found right next to the yogurt in every supermarket in the country. If you can get it, of course you can use it, but there's no need to go out of your way for it; cream cheese is more than fine.
    Rillettes is usually served with small toasts or crackers (it's perfect on Triscuits), and it also lends itself to being used as a filling.
    BE PREPARED: The rillettes should be refrigerated for at least 2 hours before serving.
2
3¾-ounce cans sardines packed in olive oil (see above), drained
2½
ounces cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese
2
shallots or 1 small onion, minced, rinsed, and patted dry
1-2
scallions, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon, or to taste
2-3
tablespoons minced fresh herbs, such as chives, cilantro, parsley, and/or dill
Pinch of piment d'Espelette (see Sources [>] ) or cayenne
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
    If you've chosen sardines that have not been boned, use a paring knife to cut them open down the belly and back and separate the fish into 2 fillets. Lift away the bones and, if there is a little bit of tail still attached to the fish, cut it off.
    Put the cream cheese in a medium bowl and, using a rubber spatula, work it until it is smooth. Add everything else except the sardines—holding back some of the lime or lemon juice until the rillettes are blended—and mix with the spatula. Add the sardines to the bowl, switch to a fork, and mash and stir the sardines into the mixture. Taste for seasoning, adding more juice, salt, and/or pepper, if you'd like.
    Scrape the rillettes into a bowl and cover, pressing a piece of plastic wrap against the