Bonne Fete Nationale!

La Fête Nationale ou, le quatorze juillet! In English known as Bastille Day or the 14^th of July. I suppose we could say that it is the French Independence day, it is a day symbolizing the rise of the modern nation of France.

All history aside, what we miss so much about France, specifically Paris, is not only the art, the life, the people, it is the food, specifically French bistro food. The croque monsieur is the king of French bistro food, first appearing on menus in 1910 as a quick bar snack. This sandwich goes beyond your mother’s ham and cheese sandwich and elevates it with gooey gruyere, Dijon, and a slathering of béchamel.

Make this sandwich, drink some rose, and watch some firework, and Bonne Fête Nationale!

Ingredients: makes 2 or 4 small ones
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ½ Tablespoons flour
1 cup hot milk
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ Lb ham (any sweet smokey ham) not too thin
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Pinch nutmeg
6 oz grated gruyere
¼ grated parmesan
4 slices sourdough bread
Whole grain mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.



Toast the bread by placing the slices down on a baking sheet and put in oven. Toast 5 minutes, then flip the slices and toast another 3.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter on low heat. Once melted, add flour and stir for about 2 minutes.

Next slowly add hot milk while constantly whisking, until it has thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Take off the heat and add the salt, pepper, pinch of nutmeg, ¼ cup of gruyere, and all of the parmesan. Mix and let sit.

To assemble the sandwich spread whole grain mustard on two slices of bread, next lay the ham and sprinkle with half of the left over gruyere. Lay another piece of bread, and smother with cheese sauce and top with remaining cheese.

Bake in oven for 5 minutes, and then turn the broiler on and broil for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese has browned.

Voila! Eat alone, or you can serve with some Dijon on the side, and some cornichon pickles to balance out the rich creamy cheese!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother’s Day! Michael and I are lucky to have very loving and caring mothers. My mother Nancy loves crepes, and Michael’s mother Shira loves a specific kind of crepe known as crepe Suzette. This type of crepe is boozy, sweet, and perfect for that woman you love to call Mom.

Crepe Suzette is a crepe that is typically flambéed with either Grand Marnier, or in our case Triple Sec. It is a sweet crepe served in a thick citrus sauce with a little bit of rind, some like to serve it with vanilla ice cream, but I like it as is.

Happy Mother’s Day!
Ingredients: serves 4

Crepe Batter:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Triple Sec
Extra butter for pan

Tangerine Butter Sauce:
3 large tangerines
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
10 tbsp. sugar
½ cup Triple Sec

Trick With Some Treat Macaron

These French macarons are a delightful way display the traditional Halloween colors orange and black! They are so cute, so scrumptious, and such perfect Halloween treats. All you need to do is follow the instructions, really pay attention, because trust us, it took a couple tries, but once we got used to it, these are a breeze! In this recipe we made two different flavors, both using our Food Nasty preserves. So if you want that recipe check back at our Summer Fruit Fall Jam post. The black is a cherry almond flavor, and the orange is nectarine brandy, and boy oh boy they are good. You can either divide everything in half, or just follow the recipe and add one flavor, your choice.

*When we say sift, we mean really sift through mesh.
*Be sure to reduce the heat the second you put everything in the oven.

Ingredients:

Cookie:
Black and orange gel food coloring
1 cup confectioners' sugar
 3/4 cup almond flour
 2 large egg whites, room temperature
 Pinch of cream of tartar
 1/4 cup superfine sugar

Filling: Swiss Meringue Buttercream
6 large egg whites
 1 1/2 cups sugar
 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ lb butter
1/3 cup jam or flavoring

Start by pulsing confectioners’ sugar and almond flour together, and then sift through mesh twice to get all the imperfections out.

Next preheat oven to 375 while you get the cookie mix ready. With an electric whisker, whisk egg whites  and food coloring until foamy, now add you cream of tartar, and continue to whisk. While you are whisking on a low speed, add superfine sugar, go back up to a high speed and continue whisking until you form firm peaks. Now sift flour mix over the eggs white and fold in until fully dissolved.

Next line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and make ¾ inch rounds with a pencil. We used a wine cork because it is the perfect size. Now transfer you batter to a pastry bag, or even a sandwich bag, and cut a small hole in the corner, and fill your circles.

Tap the bottom of the sheet to release air bubbles, and let sit for 10 minutes. One sheet at a time, place baking trays in oven, and immediately decrease heat to 325 and bake for 10 minutes, turning the sheet tray around half way through.

One they bake, let them completely cool and lift off parchment, if need be you can peel any sticking parchment paper off.

Now time to assemble the filling. Beat egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl sitting over simmering water until sugar dissolves. Once sugar dissolves remove from heat and beat until thick, add vanilla and butter, and your flavoring. Fill a pastry bag and pipe away! Fill your cookies with about a ½ tablespoon of filling, sandwich and eat!