Croque Monsieur/Madame

Tags

Bechamel sauce, cheese, French, ham, Mornay sauce

I have always loved France. That’s why, when it came time to pick what language I wanted to study in middle school, I chose French. I continued on through high school, and over the course on my studies I learned about the language, the culture, and the food. And I fell in lovewith the food. When I first learned about Orangina and Nutella, I thought they were the coolest things ever. Granted, to this day, I still think Nutella is one of the most amazing foods though I did get over my Orangina craze…Another food I remember learning about was the croque monsieur. It’s basically a fancy grilled ham and cheese sandwich, but it’s oh so good! Typically made with Gruyère or Emmantal (both Swiss cheeses) and a Bechamel or Mornay sauce, this sandwich first emerged in Paris in the early 1900s. Its creamy and cheesy and decadent. A perfect Parisian treat! Add an egg and you have yourself a croque madame! Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame
Yield: 2 sandwiches

Mornay Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
¼ cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Sandwiches:
4 slices firm white sandwich bread
4 ounces thinly sliced Black Forest ham
½ cup Gruyère cheese, shredded
2 eggs, optional

Preheat broiler, with oven rack set in center of oven.

To make the Mornay sauce: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Increase heat to medium-high and boil until sauce thickens, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add nutmeg and Gruyère cheese; stir to combine and melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the sandwiches: Place bread slices on baking sheet and bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until toasted. Flip bread over and toast for another 2 or 4 minutes. Top two pieces of bread, each with half the ham and 2 tablespoons Gruyère. Top with remaining bread. Spoon Mornay sauce, then ¼ cup grated cheese over sandwiches. Bake for 5 minutes on center rack, then move the rack to the top position and broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown on top. Serve immediately.

To make a Croque Madame, fry an egg sunny side up and place on top of the sandwich before serving.

Source: Adapted from Bon-Appétit and Ina Garten

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An Award! I feel so loved! :)

I have been given an award! Thank you so much to Sawsan of Chef in disguise and Giovanna of Blue Jellybeans for awarding me with the Versatile Blogger award. They both have such amazing blogs with unique recipes and wonderful pictures, and I’m so privileged to be chosen! So make sure you check them both out, because you won’t regret it!

The rules of the award are to pass it on to 15 others bloggers, and to share 7 things about yourself that your readers don’t already know. So here are my 7… I hope you find at least something interesting!

1. I’m a huge fan of books. I can hardly pass by a used book store without feeling its pull, and I’ll almost always go into Barnes and Noble if I walk past it. But I’m very particular about the condition of my books, too, and have a huge collection (more than what I should have since they’re all crammed into my apartment).
2. I’m an animal lover. Always have been, always will be. I was going to study to be a vet, but changed my mind and instead studied ecology, behavior, and evolution (essentially just a branch of biology).
3. My two favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas. I can’t decide between the two because I love the color scheme of Halloween, but I love all the baked goods that come with Christmas!
4. When I was younger, I played soccer and ran track. I did sprints and hurdles. Yay for jumping over things and bruised knees! Hehe.
5. I’ve been married for a little over a year to my wonderful husband, Kenn, and we’ve been together for almost 4 years now.
6. I love fantasy books and video games, and pretty much anything involving elves, especially dark elves.
7. I studied French for 4 or 5 years, American Sign Language for 1 year, and Japanese for a less than 1 year. Unfortunately, use it or lose it…. so I’ve lost most of it!

As for whom I choose to pass this award on to, make sure you check out these awesome blogs! And yes, I know I don’t have the 15, so just don’t count and pretend there are 15 there please. 🙂

Ryan Bakes
fati’s recipes
Sweet Caroline’s Cooking
Five Euro Food
With A Glass
Sweet & Crumby
Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
Eat, Play, Love
Savoring Every Bite
Misadventures in Cooking
The Southern Lady Cooks

Kimchi Fried Rice

Tags

Asian, bacon, kimchi, Korean, rice

I tried Korean food for the first time in college, and immediately fell in love. I’ve continued to try different restaurants and different Korean dishes over the years, and have loved them all. Thankfully, my husband loves Korean food, too, so we enjoy it often enough! We normally try for all you can eat Korean barbecue… we looove bulgogi and kalbi (we love our beef). On one of our more recent visits to a delicious Korean restaurant that seemed like a hole in the wall, I had the privilege of trying kimchi fried rice for the first time. It was so simple, and so tasty, and it even had a fried egg on top, which makes everything better! This is perfect for a side dish or a quick lunch.

September is National Rice Month! To see more rice recipes, check out the blog hop over at Mis Pensamientos!

Kimchi Fried Rice

1½ cups kimchi, chopped
4-6 bacon strips
2 cups cooked rice, heated
2 tablespoons kimchi juice
1½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Black pepper
2 eggs, optional
Scallions for garnish, chopped, optional

Dice the bacon strips into small pieces; set aside. In a large frying pan over medium heat, brown the bacon pieces until crisp. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate; set aside.

Remove some of the bacon fat from the pan, leaving about one or two tablespoons. Add the chopped kimchi to the pan and sauté them well until nice and tender, about 5 minutes. Add rice and mix well with the kimchi. Add the kimchi juice to moisten the fried rice. Continue to stir until heated through.

Turn off the heat. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and the bacon pieces; mix well. Season with black pepper.

In a small skillet, fry eggs sunny side up or over easy (whichever you prefer). Place on top of the fried rice. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Beyond Kimchee

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Tags

chocolate, cookie dough

My friend had a barbecue and he was nice enough to put me in charge of dessert! He’s so smart like that 🙂 The end of summer is here, but it was still going to be a warm day so I was trying to think of the perfect barbecue cupcake. Fruit cupcakes sounded ideal, using berries or lemon and making something light. I was trying to avoid chocolate, despite my love of it. Well, I kind of succeeded…

I’ve seen cookie dough cupcakes on multiple blogs before and once the thought got in my head, I couldn’t get it out. They’re fun cupcakes and unique, so perfect for a get together or when you want to impress people. I must admit, though, these cupcakes are for cookie dough enthusiasts only. I never knew there were people who didn’t like cookie dough, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. But come on, it’s cookie dough! It’s one of the best part of making chocolate chip or sugar cookies!The cupcake is brown sugar-flavored and filled with an eggless cookie dough. On top of everything is a cookie dough frosting and mini chocolate chips, with an adorable little cookie to adorn it all! Make sure you add the baking soda to the dough because even though it’s not needed for baking purposes, it makes a huge difference in the flavor. And an interesting fact I learned in this process is that milk can substitute eggs in cookie dough, so you can eat the dough without the risk of raw egg!

These cupcakes can all be made in one day, or the separate components can be made over the course of a couple days and assembled before serving. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Filling:
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting:
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners’ sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk or whipping cream
2½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Decorations:
Mini chocolate chip cookies
Mini chocolate chips

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners, totaling 24 cupcakes.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients; mix each addition just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula, if using.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the cookie dough filling: Combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the milk and vanilla; slowly beat in the flour and baking soda until fully combined and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour.

To make the frosting: Beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy.  Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth.  Beat in the flour and salt.  Mix in the milk or cream and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.

To assemble the cupcakes: Roll the cookie dough filling into balls, about a tablespoon each; set back in the refrigerator while the cupcakes are prepared. Once the cupcakes are cooled, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake using either a paring knife or an inverted pastry tip. Fill each hole with chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture. Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.

Source: Cupcake and frosting adapted from Annie’s Eats; Filling adapted from Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Baked Chipotle Beef Taquitos

Tags

beef, cheese, chipotle, lime, Mexican, tortilla

This may be blasphemous to say, but I’m not a big fan of Mexican food. I love Chipotle burritos, which I realize are very Americanized and are not really Mexican burritos at all. Other than that, if it’s Mexican but it’s not fried, I probably won’t like it. I used to love tamales and enchiladas, but something in my taste buds changed a while ago, so now I really only like taquitos, flautas, tacos, and nachos.

These taquitos are baked, so they’re healthier than their fried counterparts but still have the tasty crunch necessary for taquitos. I’ve made these multiple times over the last couple of months, and doubled it last time so I could save them in the freezer. They’re a perfect quick lunch or dinner, or even a snack! And if you love taquitos, make sure to try these baked creamy chicken taquitos. It never hurts to have variety in your freezer!Baked Chipotle Beef Taquitos
Note: Leftover beef can be used from pot roast or other slow cooked beef, as long as the seasoning isn’t overly strong. Also, chipotle chili powder can be used in place of the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, just add a little to start and increase to taste.

1½ to 2 pounds beef chuck pot roast
1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning
½ teaspoon minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
3 teaspoons adobo sauce from the canned chipotle peppers
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
zest from one lime
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
12 ounces cheese (Queso Fresco or sharp cheddar cheese), crumbled
20 to 25 6-inch white corn tortillas
Cooking spray
Kosher salt

Place beef roast and 1 cup water in a 5-quart slow cooker, fat side down. Sprinkle the packet of taco seasoning on top of the roast. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. When meat is cooked and tender, remove the roast and use 2 forks to shred the meat; shredded beef should total about 3 cups. Slice any larger pieces of roast across the grain so the beef is shredded into ½ to 1-inch pieces and place in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spray baking sheet with cooking spray.

To prepare chipotle peppers, slit the pepper open. Remove the seeds either by scraping carefully with a knife or running the open pepper under a slow stream of water until the seeds have been rinsed away.

In a small bowl, combine chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, garlic powder, coriander, cumin, chili powder, lime zest, and lime juice; whisk well.  Pour over the beef and gently toss to coat.

Wrap a pile of about 10 tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave for 1 minute to soften. Working with one tortilla at a time, crumble about 1 tablespoon cheese in a line across the center of the tortilla.  Top with 1 to 2 tablespoons shredded beef mixture.  Tightly roll and place seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Continue to roll until all of the tortillas are filled, reheating more tortillas as needed.

Lightly spray the top of each taquito with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.  Serve warm with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

To freeze: Prepare taquitos through spraying with cooking spray and sprinkling with salt. Lay taquitos in a single layer on a baking sheet, lightly spaced out and place in freezer. Once frozen, store in freezer bags. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.

Source: Adapted from Our Best Bites