Turkey Croque Monsieur. The Croque Monsieur Sandwich has to be one of my favourite sandwiches, and I love sandwiches.
One of my greatest weaknesses has to be sandwiches. I know that I have many weaknesses, of which these are only one, but . . . on a scale of 1 to 10, sandwiches are a 10+ for me. I just adore sandwiches.
My Aunt Freda also loved sandwiches, so I guess we are a lot alike in that respect. If it is between two slices of tasty bread, I love it . . . for the most part.
There are a very few exceptions.
I know most people will have cooked their turkeys for Christmas (or Thanksgiving) and you might not have leftover turkey in the house at the moment.
We cooked our Turkey at New Years. It is important to note that you could also make these with slices of Deli-turkey. Just so you know. You don't actually need leftover turkey to make these. Deli-turkey is delicious also!
I have made Croque Monsieur sandwiches in the past with ham. You can find that here.
They were most delicious. Topped with a fried egg, they become a Croque Madame. Also most delicious.
I found a recipe for this tasty Turkey Croque-Monsieur on the Jamie Oliver site. I love Jamie Oliver recipes, so often troll there.
Attributed to Chef Bruno Loubet from the Bistro Bruno Loubet, in London's Clerkenwell, it looked and sounded absolutely fabulous.
It would also allow me to use up some of our leftover Christmas cheeses and cranberry sauce! Win/win/win all round!
You cannot beat the combination of turkey, cranberry, bacon, cheese, etc. Need I go on?
You begin by making a delicious Stilton cheese sauce, lightly flavoured with Dijon mustard. It is luscious and rich.
This gets spread on the bottom slice of bread (use a rustic white bread) after you have spread the bread with some cranberry sauce.
Gruyere cheese gets grated on top of that and then you layer on turkey, the top slice of bread, also spread with some of that luscious Stilton cheese sauce . . .
A final grating of Gruyere cheese and they are ready to toast in the oven . . . a hot oven . . .
Just until the sauce has bubbled and melted a bit, along with that cheese . . . gilding the sandwiches with a blanket of deliciousness . . .
This sandwich is so simple to make. If you can make a simple cheese sauce, you can make this!
Its also very quick to make once you have all of the ingredients assembled . . .
And it is incredibly delicious!
So delicious that while I was meaning only to have a tiny taste . . . before I knew it half the sandwich had disappeared and I was licking my chops. I'll start my diet on Monday. 😏
Yield: 4
Turkey Croque-Monsieur
prep time: 15 minscook time: 15 minstotal time: 30 mins
A deliciously different turkey sandwich, with layers of a tender turkey breast, cranberry sauce, a Stilton bechamel, and Gruyere cheese! Rich and fabulously tasty!
ingredients:
3 TBS butter
5 TBS flour
400ml milk (1 2/3 cup)
2 TBS Dijon Mustard
100g Stilton cheese (3 1/2 ounces) crumbled
8 slices of a sturdy crusty white bread
cranberry sauce
100g Gruyere cheese (3 12 ounces)
400g sliced cooked turkey (14 ounces, scant pound)
salt and black pepper as needed
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
Melt
the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for several
minutes. Slowly whisk in the cold milk and cook, stirring constantly,
until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Stir in the mustard and
crumbled Stilton. Whisk to melt the cheeses and then remove from the
heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for several
minutes. Slowly whisk in the cold milk and cook, stirring constantly,
until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Stir in the mustard and
crumbled Stilton. Whisk to melt the cheeses and then remove from the
heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
Spread
four slices of the bread with cranberry sauce and then half of the
Stilton sauce. Place onto the baking sheet. Grate half of the Gruyere
cheese over top. Place the sliced turkey on top of the Gruyere cheese.
Spread the remaining Stilton sauce over the other four slices of bread
and place on top of the turkey. Grate the remaining Gruyere cheese over
all.
four slices of the bread with cranberry sauce and then half of the
Stilton sauce. Place onto the baking sheet. Grate half of the Gruyere
cheese over top. Place the sliced turkey on top of the Gruyere cheese.
Spread the remaining Stilton sauce over the other four slices of bread
and place on top of the turkey. Grate the remaining Gruyere cheese over
all.
Created using The Recipes Generator
If you don't have turkey to use, or are all turkey'd out (understandable) do bookmark this to make at some future date. You will not be sorry you did! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for
visiting. Do come again!
I've been enjoying a series called "Martha Bakes" in bed at night on the iPad. Its on Netflix
She has several students from Culinary schools there with her as she shares some lovely baking recipes, hints and tips with the viewer.
There are thirteen episodes covering everything from fruit curds, to doughnuts . . . ganache, frangipane, sponge cakes, white bread, cookies, pizza dough, one bowl desserts, layered yeast dough, pastry cream, French meringue and press in crusts.
I think I am on episode 10 now, and when I am finished watching them all, I am going to go back and watch them again! I think they are just great!
The other night I watched her make these Scottish Oat Cakes and I was instantly transfixed . . . if it hadn't been the middle of the night, I would have been down in the kitchen baking them right then and there!
I do so love an old fashioned Scottish Oat Cake, don't you?
They looked and sounded delicious! And so, today . . . I decided to bake them.
Oh boy, oh boy . . . oh boy. Are these ever good!! I am in love with them!
The dough is done completely in the bowl of a food processor. I am sure you could also do them by hand, but it would be hard to grind the oats unless you have a spice/coffee grinder.
It is a dampish somewhat sticky dough, but not overly hard to handle. Especially once it has been chilled in the refrigerator.
Do pat it out in a rectangle and wrap in cling film before you chill it. It will be much easier to roll out if you do this.
The dough is made from flour, large flake Scottish oats, unsalted butter, brown sugar, sea salt and coarse black pepper. You toast the oats before grinding them to a flour. This makes them taste even nuttier.
Once chilled you roll the dough out to a larger rectangle, having sprinkled the top with more oats.
A final sprinkle of flaked sea salt, they are then cut into small rectangles and baked in a moderate oven . . .
I was tempted to cut them out with my rectangular cookie cutter, but resisted and left them rustic looking. I am glad I did, they hold a certain charm . . .
The end result is something incredibly moreish . . . INCREDIBLY . . . edibly moreish!
We enjoyed some today (Tuesday) for lunch with cheese and were both in Oat Cake Heaven. If you have never made oat cakes before, or if you have and been disappointed, do bake these.
You won't be sorry! You can also check out an interesting article on Coffee Grinders here.
Yield: makes 32 crackers
Scottish Oat Cakes
prep time: 1 hourcook time: 30 minstotal time: 1 hours and 30 mins
Moreishly oaty. Crisp and delicious.
ingredients:
60g of old fashioned oats (3/4 cup)
150g soft light brown sugar (3/4 cup, packed)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
210g plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
3/4 tsp coarse salt
180g unsalted butter (3/4 cup) cut into small pieces
3 TBS cold water
flaked sea saltinstructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Spread
40g/1/2 cup of the oats on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 8 to
10 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant. Let cool, then pop into a
food processor and blitz until finely ground. Add the flour, sugar and
coarse salt. Pulse to combine completely. Drop in the butter. Pulse
again until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 TBS of the water,
pulse, and then pulse, whilst adding the remaining water, until the
mixture forms a soft dough. (You may need additional water.)
40g/1/2 cup of the oats on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 8 to
10 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant. Let cool, then pop into a
food processor and blitz until finely ground. Add the flour, sugar and
coarse salt. Pulse to combine completely. Drop in the butter. Pulse
again until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 TBS of the water,
pulse, and then pulse, whilst adding the remaining water, until the
mixture forms a soft dough. (You may need additional water.)
Shape
into a rectangle, wrap in plastic cling film and chill for 45 minutes.
Transfer to baking parchment and sprinkle with the remaining oats. Roll
out to rectangle approximately 10 by 12 inches in size. Cut into 32
rectangles (2 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch) using a sharp knife or fluted
cutter. Sprinkle with the flaked sea salt. Transfer to a baking sheet,
leaving 1 inch space in between each.
into a rectangle, wrap in plastic cling film and chill for 45 minutes.
Transfer to baking parchment and sprinkle with the remaining oats. Roll
out to rectangle approximately 10 by 12 inches in size. Cut into 32
rectangles (2 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch) using a sharp knife or fluted
cutter. Sprinkle with the flaked sea salt. Transfer to a baking sheet,
leaving 1 inch space in between each.
Bake for 28 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.
Created using The Recipes Generator
I think I am going to have to put these under lock and key so that I leave them alone! They are that good! Oaty, crisp, buttery, slightly sweet, but also savoury. They are fabulous! What a way to start the year! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
After all of the excess of the past few weeks, I wanted to cook us something simple for our tea tonight, and yet I still wanted something delicious.
Its New Years after all . . . and whilst the traditionalist in me was telling me that I needed to be baking a Ham like my mom always did, the lazy person in me said, no, no, no . . . the lazy person won!
I decided that I would try to develop some sort of recipe using frozen chicken nuggets. I had a bag of them in the freezer so why not! I love creating tastiness out of what I have to hand.
Let me introduce Sweet & Sour Chicken Nuggets. I know that sweet & Sour sauce is a very popular dipping sauce for chicken nuggets . . .
And sweet and sour chicken balls are a very popular entree on a Chinese menu. This tasty recipe combines the two, plus has the added convenience of using frozen chicken nuggets.
By all means if you are a purest, do make your own chicken nuggets from scratch. There are plenty of good recipes out there.
There are also some very good quality frozen chicken nuggets available these days as well, made from chunk chicken and not ground chicken. This is what I used.
I have used them before and I was confident that they are a premium chicken product, made with actual chunks of chicken, not regurgitated chicken paste. But if this still bothers you, by all means buy some chicken breast, cut it into chunks, batter it and fry it yourself.
Like I said, with me, today . . . Lazy won out!
If you decide to use frozen, do use battered and NOT breaded.
You simply spread them out on a baking sheet and bake according to the package directions until they are crisp and golden brown.
While they are baking make your sauce. I used three kinds of peppers in my sauce . . . red, yellow and green . . . along with an onion, I cut into chunks and some garlic.
You cook these in a tiny bit of oil until crispy tender and then you pour on the liquid ingredients.
I use a mix of water, pineapple juice, soy sauce and white vinegar . . .
I add tomato ketchup for colour and taste.
You pour this over the vegetables along with the pineapple and you let it come to the boil, and then you whisk in a mix of cornflour/cornstarch and water . . .
Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture bubbles, thickens and turns glossy. Sauce done. Once you got the sauce done and the nuggets are golden brown, you layer the two in a baking dish and then pop them back into the oven . . .
Just until the sauce has gloriously coated each nugget with scrumptious flavour and the flavour all meld. It doesn't take much time at all! Dinner is served!
Yield: 4 - 6
Sweet & Sour Chicken Nuggets
A simple, easy and deliciously family friendly entree.
ingredients:
You will need:
1 family sized bag of frozen battered chicken nuggets
(Not breaded)
1 tsp oil
1/2 each red, green and yellow sweet bell pepper, trimmed
and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 tin (435g/14 oz) pineapple chunks in juice, drain and save the juice
For the sauce:
55g of tomato ketchup (1/4 cup)
1 tsp soy sauce
60ml of white vinegar (1/4 cup)
50g soft light brown sugar (1/4 cup packed)
95g of white sugar (1/2 cup)
180ml of water or a mix of water and pineapple juice (3/4 cup) plus 2 1/2 TBS
1 1/2 TBS corn flour (corn starch)
To serve:
1 spring onion, thinly sliced on the diagonal
cooked riceinstructions:
Preheat the oven to the temperature recommended on the
package of chicken nuggets. Spread the nuggets out on a tray in a
single layer and then bake according to package directions. While the
nuggets are baking, make the sauce.
package of chicken nuggets. Spread the nuggets out on a tray in a
single layer and then bake according to package directions. While the
nuggets are baking, make the sauce.
Whisk the
tomato ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, white sugar and
pineapple juice/water mixture together. In a bowl mix together the 2
1/2 TBS of water and the cornflour. Set aside.
tomato ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, white sugar and
pineapple juice/water mixture together. In a bowl mix together the 2
1/2 TBS of water and the cornflour. Set aside.
Heat
the oil in skillet. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, until
crispy tender. Add the pineapple chunks. Pour in the tomato ketchup
mixture. Bring to the boil, then whisk in the cornflour/water mixture
and cook stirring until the mixture thickens and becomes glossy.
the oil in skillet. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, until
crispy tender. Add the pineapple chunks. Pour in the tomato ketchup
mixture. Bring to the boil, then whisk in the cornflour/water mixture
and cook stirring until the mixture thickens and becomes glossy.
Remove
the chicken from the oven. Place a third of the sauce in a baking
dish. Top with half the nuggets. Pour another third of the sauce over
top of the nuggets. Top with the remaining nuggets, and then finally
the remaining sauce.
the chicken from the oven. Place a third of the sauce in a baking
dish. Top with half the nuggets. Pour another third of the sauce over
top of the nuggets. Top with the remaining nuggets, and then finally
the remaining sauce.
for 10 to 15 minutes until hot and bubbling. Remove from the oven.
Scatter the spring onion over top and serve along with cooked rice.
Created using The Recipes Generator
I served it with some cooked rice and a garnish of green spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal. My husband gobbled it up. I love it when that happens! Happy New Year and Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for
visiting. Do come again!
Toasted Cheese Rounds. What a dull name for an incredibly delicious finger food appetiser. A fabulously tasty mayonnaise parmesan cheese appetiser. Perfect for your New Years Eve celebrations.
Its hard to believe that here we are on the last day of 2018! I wonder what the new year will bring to each of us. Good things I hope.
I know I have a new book coming out shortly. This one is about half the size of the last one, but I have had nothing but good reports on it, so I am hopeful that it will also be a success, fingers crossed!
So that is one good thing to look forward to, on my part at least. I try always to look at each new year as an opportunity.
I am not one much for making resolutions and such. If I can end the year having done something good, and being a little bit better than I was the year before, then I call that year a success!
I have never been one much for going out on New Years Eve. It was always a bit cost prohibitive for us My parents always went to a dance each year.
As children, we would be just as excited to ring in the New Year as they were. But that was mainly because we knew they would bring us home a party hat and a noise maker to play with the next day. (We were never allowed to play with them much until the 2nd of January due to headaches and such, lol)
Normally what we did when the children were growing up was to have a finger food buffet and watch a few movies that they enjoyed and then watch Dick Clark's Rocking New Years Eve.
My ex husband always had to work New Years Eve, so the children and I partied all on our own. We didn't mind. We enjoyed each others company and some delicious food. It was all good!
Some favourites I would have made would be Chicken Wings . . . .
my Smoked Salmon Spread was another favourite. There would be chips and dips, and pizza rolls, etc. A veritable finger food feast!
Finger food actually takes longer to make than a meal would. Its all the picky bits.
I remember when I worked at the Manor, I had to put together a finger food buffet for 200 when their daughter graduated, and that was tons of work. I was working for days and days to get ready for that one!
I relied heavily on things that I could make ahead and freeze on trays that I was then able to take out and cook on the day.
Tasty nibbles such as these Toasted Cheese Rounds!
These are so quick and easy to make, and very easy to make ahead and freeze (if you need to).
They basically only use three ingredients, four if you count the baguette rounds.
Grated cheese, mayonnaise and chopped spring onions. The original recipe called for twice as much mayonnaise, but I have cut it way back and they work fine with half the amount.
I would not use low fat mayo. You just mix together all the ingredients and then spread the mixture onto French bread rounds and bake. Easy Peasy!
The end result are hot, baked, crispy, cheese rounds of deliciousness! Quick, easy and tasty. I call these triple winners!
Yield: 40
Toasted Cheese Rounds
prep time: 10 minscook time: 15 minstotal time: 25 mins
A quick, easy and delicious nibble for celebrations and get togethers.
ingredients:
220g good quality mayonnaise (1 cup)
240g grated strong cheddar cheese (2 cups)
60g grated Parmesan cheese (1/3 cup)
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and minced
40 (1/2 inch thick) slices of baguette bread
instructions:
Preheat
the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Mix the mayonnaise, both cheeses
and the onions together in a bowl, mixing together well. Spread on one
side of each bread round and place, cheese side up onto baking trays.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until bubbling and golden
brown. Serve immediately.
the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Mix the mayonnaise, both cheeses
and the onions together in a bowl, mixing together well. Spread on one
side of each bread round and place, cheese side up onto baking trays.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until bubbling and golden
brown. Serve immediately.
Note - You
can make ahead and just bake as needed. You can also freeze these
unbaked in a single layer and pop them into the oven frozen, baking as
above. They will take slightly longer to bake.
can make ahead and just bake as needed. You can also freeze these
unbaked in a single layer and pop them into the oven frozen, baking as
above. They will take slightly longer to bake.
Created using The Recipes Generator
Oh boy but these are some good. I even like them cold and leftover the day after, but then again, I am a bit of a Glutton. (Aren't we all to some degree!) Whatever . . . Bon appetit and Happy New Year!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for
visiting. Do come again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons