CROQUE-MONSIEUR - - Oui?

The other day it occured to me that one of my favorite sandwiches was featured in one of my favorite movies.... IMAGINE THAT! The movie? "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

The Sandwich? Croque Monsieur, basically a ham and cheese sandwich with a Bechamel and melted gruyere topping. It's very, very decadent and very, very good. If you were to top this sandwich with a fried egg it would become a "Croque Madame", oui? To Make One, It's NOT Complicated, Just use:
1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano (grated)
1/2 cup gruyere (grated)
1/4 cup Bechamel Sauce
2 slices bread
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
3 slices hamDirections:
Then:
Preheat oven to 400°F
Melt half of the Gruyère and all of the parmigiano-reggiano into the Bechamel sauce.
Toast bread in oven
Spread Dijon mustard on one slice of bread
Add the ham slices and about half of the remaining Gruyère cheese
Top with the other toasted bread slice
Spoon the Bechamel sauce onto the top of the sandwich
Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère cheese
Place on a broiling pan and bake in the oven for 5 minutes
Turn on the broiler and broil for an additional 5 minutes. (Until the cheese topping is bubbly and lightly browned.)

Asian Turkey Burger .. OUTSTANDING!

Submitted by:

Ms. Lynn Douglas

Winston, Georgia

Approx 2lb ground turkey

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 head of napa cabbage, shredded

3 scallions, finely chopped
1 egg white, beaten lightly

1 handfull (6 to 8 leaves) fresh mint, finely chopped

3 tbls soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 dash course salt

1 dash ground black pepper

3 tbls veggie oil

1/2 cup mayo

2 to 3 tbls grated fresh ginger

2 tsp prepared wasabi

Whole wheat hanburger buns, toasted

Mix together turkey, bell pepper, cabbage, scallions, egg white, cilantro 2 tbls soy sauce, ginger 1/2 tsp sesami oil, salt and pepper. Mold into patties (approx 6)

Heat 2 tbls veggie oil in a skillet over high heat til hot. Reduce heat to medium, add burgers and cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until done thru.

On the side, mix mayo, wasabi and remaining tsp soy sauce with 1/2 tsp sesame oil. Use atop finished burger!

Merci Mme Douglas,

Le Guru

Monsieur les DOM DeLuise

Et peux je dire un sincère au revoir à mon ami dans M. les DOM DeLuise de nourriture. Il est allé à la grande cuisine dans le ciel où il fera sans doute les créations merveilleuses de sandwich pour jamais plus. Jusqu'à ce que nous rencontrions encore mon ami. Au revoir pour maintenant.

Avec amour, Le gourou de Sandwich.

English Translation:

And may I say a heartfelt goodbye to my friend-in-food Mr. Dom DeLuise. He has gone to the big kitchen in the sky where he will no doubt be making heavenly sandwich creations for ever more. Until we meet again my friend. Goodbye for now.

With love,
The Sandwich Guru

Un portrait de moi ! (A portrait of me)!

Beautiful, Oui?

The Pride of Atlanta

From JUST LOAF’N at 313 Boulevard S.E. Atlanta Georgia 404-525-4001

Cajun comes in more than a dozen kinds of po’ boys at this Grant Park eatery, where the bread is the right stuff for stuffings: The restaurant gets it from Leidenheimer’s Bakery in New Orleans. It’s the perfect vessel for messy, deep-fried shrimp dressed with the works: lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mayo and spicy Creole mustard. Look at this beauty and eat your heart out!
Love,
Le Gourou de Sandwich

The Sandwich Exchange

Yes I said exchange..not only will you find a hand held masterpiece for each day of the year, here you can enlighten the world with your own sanwich recipes. My followers from around the world will share in the delights that can be yours for the taking.... and of course, for the leaving.

Let the following sandwich recipe be the first in said exchange:

Sent to us by:
Ms. Carmen Montenegro
Havana, Cuba

El Medianoche

The Medianoche (my personal favorite) sandwich is sometimes served cold, as its name implies you might eat it very late as a midnight snack or coming back from dancing or a movie.

Some make the medianoche smaller, with a sweeter variety of yellow egg bread (similar to Jewish Challah bread).

In making a good Cuban sandwich, remember this: the Roast Pork is what will make the sandwich, so you can never leave it out.

3 thin slices of ham
3 thin slices roast pork hot or cold (I use hot, slow roasted pork)
3 thin slices of Swiss cheese
3 or 4 slices of pickles
1/3 cut Cuban bread hard crust (or French bread)

You should be using fresh, crusty Cuban bread, but you can always use a 12" loaf of French bread cut in half. Slice the bread open face so that both halves are still barely connected and spread mustard on both halves. Add the ham, and then the roasted pork. When in a hurry, you can use one whole piece of roasted pork. Add your Swiss cheese and then a few pickle slices. Make sure to spray your sandwich press with a little butter flavored Pam, or for a tastier sandwich you can brush some softened butter on the outside of the bread. Place the sandwich in a Cuban sandwich press and press down until the cheese is melted and the bread is slightly hard to the touch.

For those of you without a press, you can also place the sandwich in a hot skillet and press down on it with a heavy kitchen object, maybe a baking pan (some, believe it or not, use a brick wrapped in tin foil when nothing else is available).

I encourage you to partake in the afore mentioned hand-held dining experience, make it, live it and, of course, comment on it!
Bon Appetite!
Le Gourou de Sandwich