Herbes de Provence

 

1 Tbsp dry savory leaf

2 tsps dry rosemary leaf

1 Tbsp dry oregano leaf 

2 tsps dry thyme leaf

1 tsp dry basil leaf

1 tsp dry lavender flower

OPTIONAL  2 tsps dry marjoram

1. Coarsely grind the rosemary leaf in a mortar and pestle so it's about the same size as the thyme leaves.
2. Mix together and store in a dark jar with a tight lid in a dark, dry place.

Croque Monsieur sandwich

BÉCHAMEL

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter

3 Tbsps flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp dijon mustard

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

ASSEMBLY

8 thin slices of bread (Commons or Sourdough Boule)

8 thin slices of cooked ham (about 6oz)

2+2 oz Gruyère, grated

¼ cup Parmesan, grated

1 tsp herbes de Provence

1. Make the béchamel sauce first by melting the butter, and then whisking in the flour, whisking continuously until the mixture starts to turn golden. Note, this usually makes almost exactly twice as much as I need, but I refrigerate the rest to make more sandwiches, later.
2. Stream in the cream, whisking constantly. Add the dijon, salt and pepper.
3. Whisk until the sauce starts to thicken; it will become quite thick.
4. Meanwhile, with the oven rack at the highest level, pre-heat the oven to 450°F. While the oven is heating up, place the bread on a baking sheet and toast it in the increasing heat, flipping the pieces to lightly toast both sides.
5. To assemble, divide all the ingredients into 4 portions of each item.
6. Spread the béchamel evenly on the bottom piece of toast, going from edge-to-edge and put on the baking sheet.
7. On top of the béchamel place the ham, top with half the grated Gruyère, then place the other piece of toast on top, pressing down firmly. 
8. Mix together the second half of the Gruyère with the Parmesan and herbes de Provence. Top the closed sandwiches with this mixture as the final flourish.
9. Bake in the oven for about 6 to 12 minutes or until the cheese inside is melted; the position of the rack should provide sufficient radiant heat to melt the cheese on top as well. If not, your oven is different than mine, so keep the rack in the middle position and after the 6 minutes, broil the top to melt the cheese. Depending on your oven, 6 minutes may not be enough; the metric you can use is whether or not the cheese on top has started to melt.

Bette à carde gratiné (Swiss Chard Gratin)

2 bunches chard leaves, chopped (about 8 cups packed or 2lbs)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter
1½ cups milk
3 Tbsps flour
1 Tbsp + 2 tsps wholegrain mustard 
1½ cups grated Gruyère (6.3oz/180g)
Sea salt and black pepper
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (0.8oz/22.5g)
2 to 3 Tbsps bread crumbs

SERVE WITH
Crusty bread

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Bring a  saucepan of salted water to boil. 
3. Thinly slice the reserved chard stems, add them to the water, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the leaves and continue cooking until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. 
4. Drain and allow to cool, then gently squeeze out the excess liquid and coarsely chop.
5. In a large pan heat oil and butter over medium heat. When butter has melted, whisk in the flour until blended and whisk until the flour cooks, or starts to brown. 
6. Slowly whisk in the milk. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the mustard and the Gruyère. 
7. Stir in the cooked chard and transfer to a buttered gratin dish. 
8. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and breadcrumbs. 
9. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbling. 
10. Put under the broiler to get the top brown and crispy.
11. Put the hot potatoes onto a plate and spoon the gratin over them.
12. Serve immediately.

Frittella Di Spaghetti Fritti

A fantastic way of using up leftover pasta dishes. The trickiest part is the get the right balance of salt, which is dependent on the saltiness of the original dish. Was it already salty? Is there cheese in it that make it salty? The uncertainty is worth it, given the lovely crunchy browned crust that develops thanks to the parmesan-laden egg. Dairy free if you omit the cheese and use olive oil instead of butter.

LHSS Score 7.7 / 10

With Wheat Berry Salad - LHSS Score 8.6 / 10

8 oz dried pasta OR 16 oz of leftover pasta dish

2 whole eggs

1 to 2 oz grated Parmesan cheese

¼ to 1 tsp salt, to taste

½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) + 1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter + more to grease the plate

OPTIONAL - 1 tsp minced garlic

1. If using leftover pasta, skip this step. If starting from scratch, cook the pasta and drain well, letting cool a bit before using.
2. Meanwhile, mix the eggs, Parmesan, salt, and pepper (and optional garlic) in a large bowl. 
3. Add the cool/cold pasta to the egg mixture and toss well. 
4. Heat a 6" (preferred but not essential) frying pan over medium low heat with one tablespoon of butter. When it's sizzling, about 5 minutes, add the pasta mix. Let it cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until a nice brown crust has formed.
5. Meanwhile, lightly grease a dinner plate with a bit of butter for the next step.
6. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, make sure it's loose from the pan. Upturn the plate on top of the pancake, hold the plate firmly in place with your hand, grab the handle of the pan and flip the pancake onto the plate, and remove the pan. It should just drop onto the plate. Set aside for a moment.
7. Set the pan back on the stove-top, add the remaining Tbsp of oil and slide the pancake back into the pan. Cook the second side for about 5 minutes to get another nice brown crust. 
8. Once browned on both sides, flip back onto the plate and serve immediately.
9. And you're done. 
10. This should make a dinner for two people, or side dish portions for four.

Pâtissons Gratinée (summer squash au gratin)

The best way to make this dish delicious is to treat it like art. No, really. Arranging the tomato and summer squash slices in a regular pattern actually influences not only the visual experience of the dish, but also how the flavors and textures mix. When I serve it, people assume that there are only 3 ingredients. Somehow, although the cheese and the onion and garlic are intrinsic to the flavour, it's the thyme, tomato and squash that always stand out. With some nice fresh bread, this makes for a filling late summer meal.

2 + 3 Tbsps olive oil

2 medium onions (14 oz total), thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

24oz ripe red tomatoes, cored and cut into ¼" slices

12oz (about 2 small) green patty pan squash or other green summer squash, cut into ¼" slices on the bias

12oz (about 2 small) yellow patty pan squash, yellow summer squash or golden zucchini, cut into ¼" slices on the bias

¼ cup fresh thyme leaves (loosely packed)

1 tsp coarse salt

1¼ cups (2.5oz/70g) freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Sauté the onions in the oil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until golden (about 20 minutes). Add the garlic and sauté 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Spread the onions and garlic evenly in the bottom of an oiled 2 qt shallow gratin dish.
3. Heat the oven to 375°F. 
4. Put the tomato slices on a shallow plate to drain for a few minutes and then discard any collected juices. 
5. In a bowl toss the zucchini and squash slices with the second batch of olive oil, the thyme and the salt. 
6. Reserve half of the cheese for the top of the gratin. 
7. Starting at one end of the baking dish, lay a row of slightly overlapping tomato slices across the width of the dish and sprinkle with a little of the cheese, then lay a row of zucchini overlapping the tomatoes, sprinkle with cheese. Repeat, until the dish is full.
8. Season lightly with pepper. Drizzle with some more olive oil and sprinkle over the reserved cheese. 
9. Cook until well-browned all over and the juices have bubbled for a while and reduced considerably, 65 to 70 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 min. before serving.

Curried Zucchini and Swiss Chard

This is super quick to make and very good. If you have surprise guests and happen to have chard and summer squash available, this makes an impressive and quick meal. The chives can be substituted with a quarter chopped and caramelized onion (about 25-50 grams). The success of the dish hinges on how the zucchini is prepared. It needs to be in paper-thin slices, and cooked enough to be tender but not cooked enough so that it turns to mush. I've tended to undercook it, but the few times I've managed to get the right amount of doneness, the summer squash becomes buttery and flavorful with a bit of an al-dente bite to it.

* Serves 2 lumberjacks or 4 delicate ladies

1 recipe Savoury Rice
1 bunch of swiss chard (1lb)
2 medium summer squash, very thinly sliced (10 to 12 oz)
a fistful of fresh chives (equivalent to 3 green onions), minced
½ tsp curry powder
1 (½ oz/14gr) + (½ oz/14gr) 1 Tbsp butter
1+1 Tbsps mild oil
Salt and pepper, to taste.
a squeeze of lemon

1. Start by starting the Savoury Rice.
2. Remove the stems and the large center veins of the Swiss chard. Start with the stems and slice them stems very thin.
3. In a large sauté pan heat half the butter and oil over medium-to-low heat. Add the thinly sliced stems and sauté about 4 to 5 minutes, until starting to go tender. 
4. Meanwhile, fold the leaves together and slice very thin.
5. Before adding the sliced leaves to the sauté of stems, add the chives and cook about 1 minute more. Gradually add the leaf strips a handful at-a-time and cook until tender (about 4 to 5 minutes more). 
6. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
7. In the hot pan, melt the remaining butter and oil. Add the curry powder and warm it through to bring out its flavor, about 1 minute or until it becomes very fragrant.
8. Add the squash and sauté for about 3 to 5 minutes (the thinner they are, the faster they'll cook). Essentially, stop when they're all covered with the curry but still have a bit of bite and the denser flesh hasn't quite become transparent. If you let it cook too long they'll turn to mush. 
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Your rice should be ready now. On a platter, spread the rice as your base, followed by the chard on top, and top of that the squash. Apply a generous squeeze of lemon on top and serve immediately.

Custard Pie - for the clowns in your life

I live in a household that loves custard. To eat, that is, not to throw in someone's face - we're not clowns. But that was part of the inspiration: how does one make a custard pie worthy of throwing in someone's face that would be welcomed by the receiver. I don't know if I got it right, but we sure like this version.

1 recipe blind-baked Cookie Pie Crust, completely cooled
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ cup (2oz/58gr) butter 
⅓ cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 egg

1. Heat the oven to 325°F.
2. Bring the cream and milk to a very slow boil in a saucepan.
3. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and the nutmeg. 
4. Cut the butter into small chunks and slowly whisk them into the hot dairy until it all dissolves. This part is important to do thoroughly otherwise the butter will separate and rise to the top as the pie bakes creating a weird crust.
5. In a bowl, whisk together the yolk and sugar until the yolk turns a pale yellow. Whisk in the extra whole egg.
6. Very slowly whisk the flavored dairy into the egg mixture. Do this slowly; this is to gradually increase the temperature of the egg and avoid making scrambled eggs with the hot liquid.
7. Strain the mixture into the baked tart shell.
8. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes or until set. The pie will puff up a bit when it is cooked, and will settle again as it cools.
9. Let it cool completely, which can take several hours.
10. Delicious accompanied by a fresh sprig of currants or other tart fruit.