Croque Madame

Croque Madame

Yesterday’s ham is today’s incredible ham and cheese melt topped with a white sauce and a fried egg.  It’s a knife and fork sandwich you’ll be sure to love.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of sliced white bread

1/4 cup of dijon mustard

2 lbs of sliced ham

14 slices of swiss cheese

2 Tbsp of butter

2 Tbsp of flour

2 cups of whole milk

2 Tbsp of kosher salt

2 tsp of ground nutmeg

1 cup of shredded gruyere (mozzarella) cheese

7 eggs

salt and pepper to garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Begin by preparing the sauce:

In a medium-size sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add flour.  Whisk until the mixture starts to clump.  Add milk. Whisk continuously until the mixture becomes smooth.  Reduce heat to low and allow to thicken, stirring occasionally.

Add shredded cheese.  Mix and remove from heat.

For the sandwich:

On a cookie sheet, lay out slices of bread.  Spread mustard on each piece.  Layer ham and then a slice of swiss cheese.  Top with another piece of sliced bread.

Take 1 cup of the cheese sauce and spoon on top of each sandwich.  Spread evenly.  Place a second piece of swiss cheese on top of the sauce.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts and the bread starts to brown.

Meanwhile, fry enough eggs to top each sandwich.  When the sandwiches are done, remove from oven, top with a fried egg, and serve immediately.

Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken Teriyaki

First we used our rotisserie chicken to make Chicken Rice Soup.  Now it’s the same chicken but a completely different meal. Chicken Teriyaki.  A trick: coat the shredded chicken in light flour and crisp it up in oil before adding to the recipe.  The crispy coating will help the chicken absorb the Teriyaki Sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups of rotisserie chicken, shredded

1 cup of flour

1 tsp of ground ginger

1 tsp of allspice

2 Tbsp of vegetable oil

2 tsp of salt

2 bell peppers, sliced into thick chunks

1/2 red onion, sliced into thick chunks

1/2 lb of green beans, cut into 1′ slices

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups of sliced white mushrooms

1 cup of chicken broth

1 cup of prepared Teriyaki Sauce

1/4 cup of toasted cashews, chopped

In a large skillet over medium heat, bring oil to a high temperature.  Meanwhile, prepare a mixture of flour, ground ginger and allspice.  Coat shredded chicken in the flour and place it in the hot oil for a quick flash-fry.  When you see that the chicken has formed a nice brown crust, remove from heat, season with salt and set aside.

In the same skillet, add peppers, onions and green beans.  Stir fry until vegetables show signs of charring.   Add garlic and mushrooms.  Stir to combine.  Add chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add crispy chicken and Teriyaki Sauce.  Cook 2 more minutes.

Top with chopped toasted cashews and serve.