GCC: Menu 14 - Croque Monsieur and Apple Charlotte

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This past week’s Gutsy Cook menu choices took me back to my numerous trips to France when I lived in Europe.  From France I give you the famous Croque Monsieur.  And from further north – England, the Apple Charlotte.

Since I was pressed for time (which lately it has been happening more and more - aggggghhh!!!), I skipped the charlotte and made only the Croque Monsieur.

If you are ever in France this sandwich can be found all over the country, while to some it may be a simple hot ham and cheese grilled sandwich, the French take to another level all together and fancy it up.  First by using Gruyère cheese (and you guys know how I love that cheese) and coating it with a Béchamel sauce, which once more has cheese in it, turning it to Mornay sauce, then into the broiler it goes and out comes this hot, cheese, toasty goodness.  Once you have one, you are pretty much guarantee to never see a grilled ham and cheese the same way again.

The best part is that the Mornay sauce stores well in the refrigerator, which makes perfect to make some extra, store and then when you craving that ham and cheese, you can whip this up in less than 10 minutes and feel all French-like.  We made this recipe four times so far, and as I write this I’m eating my fifth.

But there is more, you can actually top this, how?

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HCB: Chocolate Bull's Eye Cake

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This is one of those recipes that just throw you.  First, it’s in the “baby cake” section of the book, so you think – oh, easy.  Then you start to read it and realized that with 4 pages of instructions and 5 different components there was no way this could fall under the easy category.

So, I put it off.

And off… I was busy: watching TV, lounging, reading, playing with presents, reading tons of blogs, getting over a MAJOR New Year’s hangover (hello 2011!), as you can see – doing anything BUT these easy cakes.

Until…yesterday.

I just could not bring myself to miss another cake, I have been so lazy lately with the HCB commitments, I’m afraid that Marie is ready to send me a stern email, telling me to get off my lazy butt, get it together and get in the kitchen and bake!

So, I put all of my ingredients out the night before, to get them to room temperature, and decided, first thing in the morning I was going to tackle this and get it over with.

I woke up to a raining day.

Which meant one thing: “STAY IN BED! STAY IN BED!”

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Sweet Kitchen Tips 19

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Here are a couple of tips when dealing with soups.

To avoid curdling when adding yogurt or sour cream, use low heat only.  Never raise the heat beyond a simmer once you have added yogurt or sour cream.

How about avoiding rice or pasta to overcook in your soup? Simply cook the pasta or rice separately and add it to the soup shortly before serving, to rewarm it.

And if you don’t have time to make soup and are using can but you don’t care for that canned taste? By adding a splash of wine or dry sherry, or even a bit of brandy and some chopped herbs on top, you can mask that taste and bring the soup to a whole other level.

I think the hardest part of a fatty soup is drawing out the fat out of the soup.  Here are some tips.  Place the soup in the freezer for 30 minutes, the fat will congeal on top making it easier to skim off and discard with a spoon or spatula.  You can also place a couple of ice cubes in a slotted spoon or in cheesecloth and drag it over the top of the soup.  The fat will cling to it.