Apple Fennel Flatbread

                                           

Apple Fennel Flatbread

Ingredients:

1 pound pre-made pizza dough
1 apple, cored, halved, thinly sliced
1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced, fronds reserved for garnish
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
¼ cup of grated gruyere
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475° and bring pre-made pizza dough to room temperature.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto a foil-lined sheet pan. Using your fingers or a brush, spread the oil into an even layer.

Stretch and shape pizza dough to fill as much of your pan as possible. 

Drizzle dough with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a generous sprinkle of salt.

Top with apples, fennel, thyme leaves, and grated gruyere cheese. 

Once again, drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with salt.

Bake the flatbread for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melty and bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Slice into wedges and sprinkle with reserved fennel fronds.

Serves 1 - 2

Croque Monsieur Casserole A Croque Monsieur

Croque Monsieur Casserole 

A Croque Monsieur

France’s grilled ham and cheese topped with béchamel—is the perfect sandwich for a casserole treatment. We changed things up by using turkey in the sandwiches for some holiday feels, then topped it all with a cheesy mornay sauce. It’s a glorious lunch or brunch dish best served with a green salad and cornichon (small pickled cucumber).  

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

Mornay Sauce
2 tbsp (30 mL) unsalted butter
3 tbsp (45 mL) all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups (425 mL) whole milk 
1/4 cup (60 mL) heavy cream
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (250 mL) coarsely grated Gruyère
1/2 cup (125 mL) finely grated Parmesan
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly grated nutmeg

Sandwiches
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 tbsp (30 mL) Dijon mustard, divided
8 thin slices deli turkey
3 cups (750 mL) coarsely grated Gruyère, divided
Thyme sprigs and sage leaves to garnish (optional)

Directions
For the mornay sauce, place butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add flour and whisk to combine. Cook 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, heavy cream, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a very gentle simmer. Cook, whisking often, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Gradually whisk in Gruyère, Parmesan and nutmeg until cheeses have melted into sauce.

Preheat broiler on high.  Place bread on two broiler-proof baking sheets. Working one sheet at a time, broil on upper rack until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. (Watch the entire time!) Turn off broiler.

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).   To make sandwiches, spread Dijon mustard on half of toasts. Cut each slice of turkey in half, then fold each half in half and layer on top of Dijon on bread slices, overlapping to fit. Top each with 1/4 cup (60 mL) grated Gruyère cheese. Top with another piece of toast and press to adhere.

Ladle 1 cup (250 mL) mornay sauce into the bottom of a large 12-cup (3-L) casserole dish. Layer sandwiches in dish, overlapping slightly. Top with remaining mornay sauce. Use back of a spoon to spread sauce evenly over sandwiches. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup (250 mL) Gruyère.

Bake on middle rack until sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn on broiler and broil, watching closely, until cheese is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh herbs, if using.

Lobster Thermidor Burger

Lobster Thermidor Burger

Classic lobster thermidor is reimagined as a luxurious burger with a lobster-shrimp patty, two cheeses and a divine brown butter-tarragon mayo. Made from 18 herbs and spices, Old Bay is a famous seasoning blend from Maryland that really makes shellfish sing.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb (225 g) shrimp, peeled, deveined
1/2 cup (125 mL) panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp (30 mL) finely chopped chives
1 egg
1 tbsp (15 mL) sour cream
1 tsp (5 mL) Keen’s mustard or other English mustard
1 tsp (5 mL) brandy 
1 tsp (5 mL) Old Bay seasoning
1 lb (455 g) cooked lobster meat, cut into 1/2-inch (1-cm) chunks
2 tbsp (30 mL) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (125 mL) mayonnaise
1 tsp (5 mL) dried tarragon
1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground black pepper
Canola oil for cooking
1/2 cup (125 mL) grated Gruyère
1/4 cup (60 mL) grated Parmesan
4 brioche buns, halved
4 leaves bibb or leaf lettuce, trimmed to fit bun

Directions: 

Place shrimp in bowl of food processor and pulse until a paste forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer to large bowl, fold in breadcrumbs, chives, egg, sour cream, mustard, brandy and Old Bay until thoroughly mixed. Add lobster and mix until just combined. Form into four equal patties to fit buns. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but no more than 8 hours.

Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until brown and foamy, about 3 minutes. Cool 2 minutes. Combine brown butter, mayonnaise,  tarragon, lemon zest and pepper in medium bowl and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up 1 week.

Heat a film of oil in a large ovenproof, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add burgers and reduce heat to medium. Cook until well browned  and an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) is reached, about 3 minutes per side.

While burgers are cooking, preheat broiler on low.

When burgers are done, combine Gruyère and Parmesan and divide evenly over burgers. Place frying pan under broiler until cheese is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from oven.

Toast buns and spread mayo mixture on both sides. Top with burgers and lettuce. Serve immediately.  Serves 4

 

 

One Pot French Onion Soup With Garlic Gruyere Croutons

One Pot French Onion Soup

With Garlic Gruyere Croutons

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 pounds oxtail or beef shoulder, cut into 1 or 2 inch pieces

Salt

8 medium onions

4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

4 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 bay leaves

4 thyme sprigs

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

Black pepper

1 cup port wine

Lemon juice to taste, optional

6 ounce baguette loaf, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

2 garlic cloves, halved

8 ounces Gruyere cheese

*

Directions:
Heat the oil in a 6-quart Dutch oven over high heat. Add the oxtail (or beef shoulder) in a single layer (work in batches, if necessary to avoid crowding the pan), and sear until the undersides are brown (do not turn). Season generously with salt and transfer to a plate.

Coarsely chop two of the onions; add to the pot, along with the celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Return the beef to the pot. Pour in 8 cups water. Simmer mixture gently until the meat is very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Transfer beef to a bowl to cool for another use. Strain liquid into a bowl over a fine-mesh sieve; press gently on the solids with the back of a spatula to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the solids; you should have about 10 cups broth (add water if necessary to equal 10 cups).

Halve the remaining 6 onions through the root end, then peel and thinly slice them lengthwise. Melt the butter in the bottom of the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, tossing occasionally, until deep golden-brown and caramelized, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Pour in the port and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for 3 minutes. 

Pour in the broth and simmer mixture over low heat for 30 minutes. Season with salt and lemon juice, if desired. (For a smaller group, you could refrigerate some of the soup and reheat it later.)
While the broth simmers, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast until golden, about 12 minutes. Rub the garlic halves over the surface of the bread.

Heat the broiler and arrange a rack 4 to 6 inches from the flame. Using a cheese slicer, thinly slice 3 ounces of Gruyère. Coarsely grate the remaining cheese. Float the broiled bread over the surface of the hot soup. Layer the cheese slices over the bread; scatter the grated cheese over it. Transfer the Dutch oven to the oven and broil until cheese is golden and bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes (watch to see that it does not burn).
To serve, use kitchen shears or scissors to cut the bread and cheese into portions. Ladle soup, bread and cheese into individual bowls.


Tip
To broil the soup in individual bowls, place 8 ovenproof bowls on a baking sheet. Fill with hot soup, top with broiled bread, shaved cheese and grated cheese, and run under the broiler until golden and bubbling. You may need to prepare it in batches.

Gruyere And Parmesan Cheese Souffle

Gruyere and Parmesan Cheese Souffle

Our daughter Barbara has shared another great sounding souffle recipe which she has prepared. It is always fun to visit Barbara as she serves such delightful and delicious menus. Barbara found this recipe on Epicurious.com.

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Gruyère and Parmesan Cheese Soufflé

Ingredients:

Grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup butter

5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

Pinch of cayene pepper

Pinch of ground nutmeg

1 1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup dry white wine

6 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons packed coarely grated Gruyere cheese (about 6 ounces)

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

8 large egg whites

***

Directions:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F.

***

Generously butter one 10-cup soufflé dish or six 1 1/4-cup soufflé dishes; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to coat. (If using 1 1/4-cup dishes, place all 6 on rimmed baking sheet.)

***

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Cook without browning until mixture begins to bubble, whisking constantly, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, then wine. Cook until smooth, thick and beginning to boil, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

***

Mix yolks, salt and pepper in small bowl. Add yolk mixture all at once to sauce and whisk quickly to blend. Fold in 1 1/4 cups Gruyère cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (cheeses do not need to melt).

***

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into lukewarm soufflé base to lighten. Fold in remaining whites. Transfer soufflé mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons Gruyère cheese.

***

Place soufflé in oven; reduce heat to 375°F. Bake soufflé until puffed, golden and gently set in center, about 40 minutes for large soufflé (or 25 minutes for small soufflés). Using oven mitts, transfer soufflé to platter and serve immediately.