Recipe #253: Croque Monsieur

All I could think while I ate this is that it's the exotic love child of grilled cheese and biscuits and gravy.  ...except ham instead of sausage.   Oh man...  I linked to this through foodgawker.com, which led me to a great blog called travelcooktell.com.  I only made two sandwiches instead of three, but kept the same measurements for the sauce and cheese. I used a good loaf of Italian bread, sliced thick.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter, plus softened butter for bread
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1½ cups gruyère or emmental cheese, grated
• ½ cup mozzarella
• 6 slices bread  (I used 4)
• 6 slices ham  (I used 4)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
2. For the sauce:
3. In a saucepan melt butter. Add flour, stirring constantly until smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly add milk, stirring continuously, and cook until the mixture thickens a little and is lightly golden.
4. Remove from heat and add mozzarella, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
5. Lightly and evenly butter bread slices, place them in a baking pan and put it in the oven for 3 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and place the ham slices and about ⅓ cup Gruyère cheese on 3 of the bread slices. Top each with one of remaining bread slices.
7. Spread sauce to cover the top of each sandwich (crusts, too). Sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese.
8. Bake the sandwiches for about 5 minutes then place under lit broiler until cheese mixture on top is bubbling and lightly browned, about 3 minutes.

Recipe #249: Jambalaya

I previously posted a jambalaya recipe that is made in a crock pot (see this link), but this recipe from chow.com has many more ingredients, including all the spices to make the cajun seasoning from scratch.  This is not a saucy jambalaya- the rice absorbed all of the broth as I made it in this recipe, so adjust accordingly if you prefer more sauciness.  This is a SPICY meal to warn those who prefer things to be mild.  My comments are in red.

INGREDIENTS

For the spice mix:

• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (I used half)
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
• Pinch celery salt

For the jambalaya:

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 large yellow onions, medium dice
• 12 ounces andouille sausage, medium dice  (I used the whole pound in the package.  Why not??)
• 4 ounces tasso or smoked ham, medium dice  (I couldn't find either, so I just used black forest ham.)
• 2 large green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and medium dice
• 3 medium celery stalks, medium dice
• 1 jalapeño, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
• 3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes  (I used a can of whole tomatoes that I crushed)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 medium scallions, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)

INSTRUCTIONS

For the spice mix:

Place all of the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine; set aside.

For the jambalaya:

Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the lower third. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed, ovenproof, 7-quart pot or large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place about one-third of the chicken pieces in the pot and cook, stirring rarely, until browned all over, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove to a large bowl and brown the remaining chicken in 2 more batches; set aside.

Remove and discard all but about 1/4 cup of the fat from the pot. Add the butter and melt over medium heat. Add the onions, scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any browned bits, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions just begin to brown, about 6 minutes.

Add the sausage, ham, and half of the reserved spice mix. Stir to coat everything with the spice mix and cook, scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally, until the meat is browned and the onions are very tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the bell peppers, celery, jalapeño, garlic, measured salt, and remaining spice mix. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally, until the bell peppers have softened, about 10 minutes.

Add the reserved chicken and any accumulated juices, the tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, and the tomato paste. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Add the rice, stock or broth, and bay leaves, stir to combine, and bring to a boil. Cover with a tightfitting lid, transfer to the oven, and bake until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes.

Remove the pot to a wire rack and let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir to evenly combine the jambalaya, taste, and season with salt as needed. Sprinkle with the scallions and serve.

Recipe #151: Chicken Cordon Bleu Rollups

I had almost all of the ingredients for this on-hand already- only had to get the chicken!  This is my adaptation of a recipe I saw on allrecipes, and the sauce is my take on another recipe.  DELICIOUS and easy!

INGREDIENTS (vary amounts according to desired servings):

Thin sliced chicken cutlets

Thin sliced deli ham

Slices of swiss cheese

Seasonings of choice (I used chicken seasoning)

Olive oil

Toothpicks

Cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup

Sour cream

Lemon juice

White wine

Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Lay a chicken cutlet out flat.  Fold a piece of deli ham in half and place on top, then fold a piece of swiss and place on top of that.  Roll the layers up, with the pointed end of the cutlet going on the inside.  Toothpick into place.  Season with desired seasonings.  Repeat for all.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat olive oil in a pan, and place the rollups into the pan and brown well on all sides.

Place rollups into a lightly-oiled casserole dish.  Bake for 25 minutes or till no longer pink inside.

While rollups bake, mix soup, sour cream (about 1/2 cup per can of soup), lemon juice (to taste, about a couple tablespoons), wine (to taste/texture) and black pepper into a small sauce pan.  Heat through and serve over rollups.

Recipe #148: Cheesy Ham and Hash Brown Casserole

This is NOT for someone on a diet, but oh man was it delicious.  The leftovers are possibly even better than the original!  This was Christmas morning breakfast!

Ingredients

• 1 (32 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes (I used the shredded kind)
• 8 ounces cooked, diced ham
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of potato soup
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham, cream of potato soup, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese. Spread evenly into prepared dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly brown. Serve immediately.

Recipe #142: Ham and Potato Soup

This isn't a very photogenic recipe, but trust me, this is REALLY good.  I'm not the biggest fan of ham (well, besides Honey Baked Ham of course....) but this was rated so well I had to try it.... quite pleasantly surprised!  I was liberal on the ingredients, which I'll note below.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes  (I used 3 whole potatoes, skin on, diced)
• 1/3 cup diced celery (I used about 3 stalks)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion (I used closer to a cup...)
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham  (I used two whole ham steaks by Bob Evans, I believe)
• 3 1/4 cups water (I used mostly broth, and added more.  Judge according to how many veggies you have)
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules  (I skipped this because I used broth)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Recipe #68: Western Skillet Eggs

This recipe caught my eye in my October issue of Food Network Magazine, and I'm glad I made it- the sour dough bread made this a really interesting take on western style eggs.  We enjoyed it for dinner, then had the leftovers for breakfast the next day!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup half-and-half or whole milk
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
2 large green bell peppers, seed and cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 pound thinly sliced ham, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 slices sourdough bread, torn into pieces (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for topping (I omitted this)
8 large eggs

DIRECTIONS:

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350.  Whisk the half-and-half, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste in a small bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the shallots and cook until just softened, 1-2 minutes.  Add the bell peppers; cook until the peppers are soft and the shallots are golden, 5-6 minutes more.  Add the tomatoes, ham, bread, parsley, and 1/4 cup water and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes.  Season with salt and black pepper.  Remove from heat.

Make 8 evenly spaced indentations in the bread mixture with the bottom of a ladle or small measuring cup.  Crck an egg into each indentation.  Slowly pour the half-and-half mixture over the eggs.  Bake, rotating the skillet a few times, until the whites are set, about 15 minutes.  Top with parsley.  (I baked it for a little longer because my whites weren't setting well, which cooked the yolks more, but it turned out fine regardless.)

Recipe #67: Slow Cooker Chicken and Ham Stew

This weekend we went away with friends and decided to take turns making crock pot meals for dinner.  This was my contribution, and it was so good!  I varied the times from the recipe to get it done a little sooner, and it still turned out great!  Fall is here- time to give the crock pot a good workout!

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 3-lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups cubed ham (I bought these already cubed)
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
8 cups water
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
3 cups canned cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained
3 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried oregano

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat a 6-quart slow cooker to high.

Combine the chicken, onion, ham, and potatoes in the slow cooker.  Pour in the water.  Cover and cook on the lowest setting for 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is tender.

Remove the chicken from the pot and strip the meat from the bones.  Return the meat to the pot.  Discard the skin and bones.

Add the tomatoes, beans, corn, salt, sugar, pepper, and oregano.  Cover and cook on the highest setting for 1 hour.

Serve hot.

Recipe #44: Ham and Mushroom Quiche

This recipe is slightly modified because I was looking for something to make for lunch with ingredients I already had, but it's still very close to the original. This made for a great lunch, but it would be a nice breakfast or dinner as well.



INGREDIENTS:

Olive oil spray
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I used regular seasoned breadcrumbs)
4 oz lean deli ham, torn/cut into bite-sized pieces (about 1 cup)
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (I used baby portobellos)
1 cup sliced red onion (I used white onion)
2 large eggs
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of a 6-inch shallow pie plate or casserole dish with olive oil spray. Sprinkle bread crumbs over bottom and sides of plate, rolling the plate to make sure the sides are covered. Gently shake the plate to evenly distribute excess crumbs across the bottom.

Place the ham, mushrooms, and onion in the pie plate. In a small bowl, lightly beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites with a fork. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into the prepared pie plate. Press the ingredients under the eggs with a fork. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.