Croque Monsieur Cigars

Jul 072011
 
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It seems that most people learn on the their first trip to Paris is that a cup of coffee and some croque monsieur in the morning will help lessen the inevitable red wine hangover. Making croque monsieur portable seemed imperative for spreading the love. Little pastry cigars filled with creamy Gruyere cheese sauce and smokey ham could cure a hangover, impress in-laws, or make you the most-sought after in a crowd.  You can prep these a couple days ahead of time. I have also put the left over cheese sauce in a bowl for people to dip their cigars into. No double dipping allowed, though.

The roux is ready for the warm milk…

Continuously stir until the milk starts to thicken, then add the cheese.

After shaping your puff pastry in a rectangle spread Dijon mustard over the dough.

Assemble with ham, cheese and sauce.

Fold and seal well. Make sure not to put too much of the filling inside. It will make it much harder to seal. After this is done, I would either stick in the oven or put in fridge for baking later.

Makes 12

Gruyere cheese sauce:

  • 2  tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons AP flour
  • 2 cups hot milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • pinches nutmeg
  • 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Croque Monsieur Cigar:

  • 1 package of puff pastry, 2 sheets, thawed
  • Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 pound ham, shaved
  • 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

    1. 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.
    2. 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, grated Gruyère, and the Parmesan and set aside.
    3. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 6 rectangle. Stretch out a little in length & width. Spread Dijon mustard on all 12 stretched out rectangles.
    4. Put ham on each puff pastry rectangle along the length of it. Follow with cheese and cheese sauce.
    5. Roll pastry up length wise and seal. Pinch ends.
    6. Place them on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Make sure to leave space in between each cigar so they can crisp up.
    7. Bake in a preheat oven of 350F for about 25 minutes.Pull the cigars off the cookie sheet by the parchment. Let cool about about 10-15 minutes. Wrap with wax paper then tie. Pack in insulated bag will keep them warm.

I haven’t been able to go to Paris since my youngest son was born. How I long for a trip…Paris is a place that feeds my soul.  Being a single mother leaves me little time to sit, sipping a leisurely cup of coffee and writing in a journal. Making a little French food to take along on my busy schedule, to share with my friends will just have to do for right now.

Pull up a chair, Elizabeth

 

Smoked Fish Spread

Apr 252011
 
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The extent of my fish spread making really has been just to tuna fish salad. Smoked fish spreads seemed fancy or expensive or something. Northern Michigan has a lot of whitefish spread sold in places and I actually only think of it when I am up there on vacation. It is usually really fattening and I eat way too much of it. I saw some the other day at a specialty store here in Chicago for $9.65 for 4 oz. What? I could practically eat an ounce in one swipe of my cracker.

So, like usual, this got me going… I can make this… better even…half the price. For those of you that do not know much about Chicago, we have a huge Polish immigrant population. What is great about this is the cuisine that they brought with them and now I can buy it as well. There are a lot of different smoked fish in the Polish stores here at a good price.

Salmon, whitefish, and mackeral are some of the types of fish that usually available. I got an half pound of peppered smoked mackerel for $4.50. This is so easy, you will be shocked.

1/2 pd. smoked fish (I used a peppered version)
1 8 oz. package low fat cream cheese, softened
heaping 1/2 cup of nonfat Greek style yogurt
handful of fresh dill
1/2 t. apple cider vinegar
1/4-1/2 t. salt
pepper, to taste (I did not need to add to mine because fish was peppered)

1. Hand flake smoked fish into a bowl.
2. Add cream cheese, yogurt, and dill. Stir together.
3. Add vinegar. Stir.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve or chill and serve later.

So there… I did it. Over a pound of delicious fish spread for about $7.00. Much lower in calorie and fat. This took me three minutes to make. Have it around the house. Take it to your friends house. Slather it on something, then write me and tell me all about it. Teehee.

Pull up a chair, Elizabeth

Prepping for Baconfest Amateur Finals

Apr 092011
 
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The toast squares are toasting as I drop a quick update to you all. I am off to Baconfest today. I am one of six finalist because of you all voted me in with the recipe: Bacon Country Meatloaf. Yippee. I am so excited to meet 53 fabulous chefs and eat their creation from bacon.

We have to arrive fifteen minutes early with 20 tasting size portions of my recipe. There will be only 1 microwave as a heating element for us to present our dishes. So basically, there is no way to heat up the food. So I am really glad that I submitted my meatloaf recipe because it tastes good chilled or served at room temperature.

So how to make it the best mouthful of meatloaf possible? This is what I have come up with…start with making white bread, then toast squares from there.

Then I made a quince and roasted garlic aioli to have a tender sweet creamy element added to the perfect tasting bite. I actually have no idea where this came from, but when I made this in my head first, then when I prepared it and then it tasted just like I had imagined it would in my head. That was fun to make happen.

Now for the meatloaf…I had to shape it different then I normally would shape it. I wanted to make it 2 inches in diameter so all that I had to do was slice it for the toast and you would see bacon all around. My dilemma was I knew the meat would be done why before the bacon was cooked in the oven. I decided to boil the bacon so that it was partially cooked. Let it cool, then wrap the meatloaf with it. It worked great. Then my brother, Jon, had a inspired idea. A perfect idea.

Jon said, “Too bad you do not have one of those creme brulee torches. You could heat up the bacon edges of your meatloaf while you are serving up your tasting plates.”

Well, I’ll be damned. I have one of those suckers that run on butane in my pantry. Fabulous idea.

Pickled onions on top to the bite makes it perfectly balanced.

So I head out today prepared, organized and excited to see what everyone else prepared to share with us. My niece, Jenna, is going to be my sidekick today. Friends, and my niece, Kaitlin, are helping me take care of Gabriel so I do not have to worry about him. Ready to go..

I will tweet and facebook throughout the day. I will include recipes in my next post. I am ready to bring home the bacon.

Greek Kataifi Pastry & Cheese Rolls

Mar 062011
 
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When I am reading recipes I go through my mental check list before I make it.

          Does this recipe sound make sense and seem easy enough to follow?
          Are the ingredients going to keep me within my budget?
          Can I make it ahead of time? Before my guests?
          Would it feed and delight the usual crowd that gathers around My Communal Table?

Now when I was perusing a Greek cookbook that I have, Vefa’s Kitchen, I came across this recipe and I knew that I wanted to make it. Holy moly, did it look good. Pastry, egg and feta cheese will always get my attention, but I had never worked with Kataifi pastry before. Hey, I do remembered seeing it at a grocery store not far from my house.  This is a finely shredded filo dough and it makes the dish super delicate. Then you add feta and Gruyere cheese mixture inside each roll… it really puts if over the top.

When I first saw it at first it I was a little scared…

Tease out the kataifi pastry into 20- 25 long sections. Don’t get too hung up on if you are doing it right. It is quite forgiving as you are rolling up each section with the cheese mixture. Make sure that you have a damp towel to cover up the pastry when you are not working with it. It drys out even faster then filo dough sheets.

Place some of the cheese mixture at the end of the dough strands, then roll up. I was not precise with my method, but I figured you can’t go wrong with a hunk  of cheese mixture wrapped any which way in pastry.

Recipe:

Serves 4-6
  • 4 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing dish
  • 4 eggs
  • fresh cracked pepper
  • pinch of salt
  • 7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 1/2 cup kaseri or Gruyere cheese, grated
  • 11 ounces kataifi pastry
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2/3 cups milk
  • 2/3 cups heavy cream
  • 1 lemon, cut in wedges, to serve with each serving

  1. Butter an ovenproof dish.

  2. Beat 2 of the eggs in a bowl, season with pepper, then stir in the cheese. Set this filling aside until ready to use in pastry.

  3. Tease out the kataifi pastry into 20-25 long strand sections. Keep pastry covered with a damp towel to keep them moist.

  4. Take one section of kataifi and pat it down gently. Place about one tablespoon of cheese mixture at one end of pastry and roll up and then place in baking dish. Continue until cheese mixture is rolled up and dish is filled.

  5. Heat butter and corn oil together and pour about teaspoon over each roll. At this point, you can wrap and put in freezer or place in refrigerator for about 24 hours.

  6. One hour before baking, beat together milk, cream and remaining 2 eggs. Season with pepper. Pour over cheese rolls and let sit for about 1 hour or until liquid is absorbed.

  7. Bake in preheated 350F oven for about 35-45 minutes. You want it golden brown and the egg cooked. Serve immediately with a wedge of lemon to squeeze on top before eating.

  

 The salty tang of the cheese, the outside crisp of the pastry with the tender creaminess of the center is perfectly complimented by the fresh lemon juice squeezed on at the end. I love having one more dish that I can make ahead, then serve to my friends gathered around my table. Dishes that take me into the kitchen while my friends are having a good time in my dining room makes me grouchy. As I have said before, foodies hate to feel left out.

Pull up a chair, Elizabeth