Croque Monsieur Recipe : Ina Garten : Food Network

Saw this recipe on Food Network, The Barefoot Contessa. I served it twice, once with sliced red and green apples, lunch, and for dinner with a nice mixed green salad with a tangy dressing. Both were great. This really is easy and worth the effort that you put in to it.



Croque Monsieur Recipe : Ina Garten : Food Network:

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin , we used Boar's head, on sale at Hiller's Mkt.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.
To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.
Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Bon Appetit!

Cod in White Wine

Found a nice piece of cod at Costco, fresh and a value. Made a dish out of it with calamata olives, sliced cherry tomatoes, garlic and parsley, very quick, easy and tasty.

Ingredients
4 pieces of fresh cod,
1 t Penzey Greek Seasonings
Salt and pepper
1 Cup sliced cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 C pitted calamata olives
1 t chopped garlic
2 T cold butter in pieces
3 T chopped parsley
1 Cup Dry white wine

Salt and pepper the cod, sprinkle on the Greek seasoning and then place cod in oven-proof casserole, layer the remaining ingredients over the fish.
Pour the wine into the casserole, bake, tightly covered at 375 for 15 - 20 minutes.

Bon Appetit!

Country French Tuna Pasta Salad

Made a nice pasta salad today with tuna, Penne pasta and served it with cherry tomatoes on a bed of lettuce, perfect for a warm afternoon. My secret ingredient is Penzey's Country French Vinaigrette, mixed with the tuna and pasta prior to adding the mayo.

Ingredients

2 cans tuna, packed in water, drained

8 0z. Penne or pasta of your choice, cooked

1T Penzey's Spice Country French Vinaigrette

1T capers + some of the liquid

1/4 C coarse chopped celery

Lo fat mayo to coat, 1/3+ cup

Mix all of the ingredients, except mayo in a large bowl, then add the mayo to coat. Serve on a bed of lettuce, mixed greens, with cherry tomatoes on the side. I served mine also with a s;ice of warm broccoli/onion/cheese corn bread, a Trader Joe recipe.

Bon Appetit!

Superbowl Sandwich

Wanted a quick and tasty Super Bowl dinner as we were returning from Charlevoix. Decided on soup and sandwiches.

Soup: Dill pickle from the Polish Market - the best I have had from there. very sophisticated and tasty. Potato soup with fresh dill, chopped pickles and carrots.

The sandwich was a grilled baguette, sliced lengthwise, buttered and toasted on a griddle. Next to it I heated Pastrami from Trader Joe's, topped with sliced smoked Gouda from TJ's too. When the bread was toasted I topped it with the pastrami and the melted cheese. On top of that I added a homemade tangy coleslaw and topped with more smoked Gouda. Pressed down and sliced diagonally. Served with the soup, thick potato chips and more coleslaw. Great tasting. With a nice Detroit Brewery beer - priceless.

Bon Appetit!

Carbonnade a la flamande

Hiller's ran a great sale on beef roasts, good price but the cut we bought needs braising to bring out all of the flavor and tenderness. Decided on the Belgian national dish, "Beef a la Carbonnade", beef with beer and onions; cooked slowly, the beef becomes very tender, the onions sweet and the beer, cooked and reduced down, becomes a rich, incredibly tasty and complex sauce.

Ingredients

1 3 1/2 - 4 lb. beef brisket trimmed of excess fat
3/4 t salt
1/2 t salt
2 T olive oil
2 lbs thinly sliced onions
1 Turkish bay leaf
1 12 oz. bottle of ale, not dark
1 crumbled beef bouillon cube
1 T balsamic vinegar

"Put a rack in middle of oven and pre-heat oven to 350* F.

Pat brisket and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 6 to 8 quart wide heavy oven proof pot, I used my new Chantal Dutch Oven enameled cast iron, weighs a ton, but perfect for this dish), over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Brown meat well on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a platter.

Add onions and bay leaf to fat remaining in pot, add more oil if necessary, and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer half of onion to a bowl. Set brisket over onion in pot, then top with remaining onions. Add beer, bouillon cube, and vinegar (liquid should come about halfway up sides of meat; add water, or beef broth as I did, if necessary) and bring to a boil.

Cover pot, transfer to oven, and braise until meat is very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours+. Let meat cool in sauce, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Transfer brisket to a cutting board. Skim off any fat from sauce, discard bay leaf, and season sauce with salt and pepper. Slice meat across the grain and serve with sauce
Cook's Note:

The brisket actually improves in flavor if braised 2 days a ahead. Cool the meat in the sauce, uncovered. Cover it with [parchment paper or wax paper, then the lid, and refrigerate. Removed any solidified fat before reheating. To reheat, slice the old meat across the grain and arrange in a shallow baking pan, Spoon the sauce over the meat and reheat in a 325*F oven for 45 minutes. This really is right, I have been eating off this for several days and each day it is better than before. There is an old saw about eternity defined as two people and a ham. In this case two people have been very happy for several days.

Bon Appetit!


Taken from 'The Gourmet Cookbook'. Edited by Ruth Ritchell. Houghton Mifflin. New York. 2004. pg 423"