This week, we cooked radishes. Yes. Cooked. I’ve always looked at radishes as a “slice ‘em up raw and throw them into salads” vegetable. Nothing more. My mom salts them, but then again, my mother loves salt on almost anything. However we’d been reading more and more about cooked radishes and since we’d gotten a nice bunch at the Ballard Farmers’ Market last weekend from Growing Washington, we decided to try it.
Butter poached radishes
A quick word about these radishes. These are fantastic radishes. They are sweet and buttery even raw. They don’t have a lot of the really bitter bite that I’ve found in later summer radishes. Cook them within a day or two of purchase though, or they will start to get soft. A very special thank you to my Twitter followers The Gastronome and Jeters for encouraging me to try this recipe.
- 1 bunch radishes
- 2 Tbsp butter
- Salt
- Crusty bread
Slice the radishes into medium slices. I got about 4 slices per radish.
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the radishes and cook, seasoning with salt, for about 5-6 minutes.
Serve over crusty bread.
Chef’s Notes: This recipe is so simple, you can be eating yummy radishes within 10 minutes of walking into the kitchen. We tried the radishes plain (without the bread) and they were excellent, but pouring the buttery mess onto bread makes for a very decadent appetizer or side dish. Just make sure your bread slices are thick enough to stand up to the butter and radishes. Ours weren’t and so they were a little tricky to eat. We will definitely be making these again.
Wow, never thought of cooking radishes (love the darn little things!). This reminds me of a recipe for mushrooms sauteed in butter and garlic with cream, on thick toast.
Thanks! This is perfect. I’ve got some of those sweet little radishes in the fridge. I really thought that all you could do was to munch them on salad. I’ll try this tonight with a little homemade butter.
All right, I’ll try it. I always wanted to do something more with ‘em than eat ‘em straight. (I can’t ever eat them raw fast enough for a whole bunch.)
I love raw radishes with creamy butter and fleur de sel, but I’m sure they’re even better poached in butter. YUM.
I don’t even like radishes (too spicy for me) but this looks delicious. Maybe it’ll be the radish tipping point.
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I definitely felt that the radishes lost some of their spice when cooked. So I would definitely try them cooked. They still had just a bit of that tang, but it was not at all the bitter bite that they sometimes have raw.