This latest meal was inspired by “It’s Complicated”. The movie itself was really funny and my husband and I enjoyed it. In it Meryl Streep’s character is a trained French pastry chef and some of the delicious goodies that she makes in the movie are French inspired. In one scene, she is entertaining Steve Martin’s character and while I should have been paying more attention to the storyline, I just could not take my eyes off of the dinner that she had prepared for him. I did a quick Google search and was able to find it. Along with the recipe for the Lavender ice cream that she made for Alec Baldwin’s character. Are you seeing a theme here? Once again, it is being proven that the way to a man’s heart is through his belly.
Croque Monsieur
Ingredients:2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
A pinch of salt, fresh ground pepper, nutmeg, or more to taste
6 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups, grated)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (packed)
8 slices of French or Italian bread
12 oz. ham, sliced
Prep:
1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Make the Béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium/low heat until it just starts to bubble. Add the flour and cook, stirring until smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking continuously, cooking until thick. Remove from heat. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the Parmesan and ¼ cup of the grated Gruyère. Set aside.
3. Lay out the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, a few minutes on each side, until lightly toasted. For extra flavor, you can spread some butter on the bread slices before you toast them. *Alternatively, you can assemble the sandwiches as follows in step 4 and grill them in a skillet, instead of toasting the bread in the oven. And, then finish them in the broiler with the béchamel sauce.
4. Lightly brush half the toasted slices with mustard. Add the ham slices and about evenly distribute about 1 cup of the Gruyère cheese. Top with the other toasted bread slices.
5. Spoon on the béchamel sauce to the tops of the sandwiches. Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère cheese. Place on a broiling pan. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then turn on the broiler and broil for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese topping is bubbly and lightly browned.
Makes 4 servings
*This recipe was copied from the Simply Recipes website. And it was adapted from several recipes, including one by Debra Weber and Ina Garten.
The Dessert
Lavender Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2/3 cup cream
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup fresh lavender blossoms (this link is for information on cooking w/ lavender)
Prep:
1. Combine teh milk, cream, and lavender flowers in a heavy saucepan
2. Gently warm mixture on medium heat, until foamy.
3. In a seperate bowl, mix eggs until well blended and thick.
4. Add sugar to eggs, stirring well.
5. Strain milk/cream, to remove the lavender blossoms, if desired.
6. Add 1/2 cup of warm milk/cream mixture to eggs, blend thoroughly.
7. Finally, add the egg mixture to the remaining milk/cream mixture.
8. Cool completely in the refrigerator, before pouring into your favorite ice cream maker.
*This recipe was copied from Bake Space.
*I would like to add that I believe that this recipe is a good recipe. And the final bad results, were due to the maker (me). It was a learning experience for all of us, and I do not wish for my horrific attempt at making this to reflect badly on this recipe and/or website. If you knew what you were doing, I'm sure that this would have been delicious. Thank you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment