Recipes

[beach-mom]

I used to make this all of the time when we were all younger for "snow days." I haven't made it in years, but I will Sunday or Monday - if we have power!  

Croque Monsieur (makes 4)

Bechamel sauce

 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 Tbsp. flour

3/4 c. milk

pinch of cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour, stirring constantly until the mixture is golden brown. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly. Simmer and keep stirring until the sauce is thickened and smooth, about 6-8 minutes. Turn off heat and add cayenne, and if needed, salt and pepper. Set aside. 

8 slices French or sourdough bread, sliced thickly

1/4 c. oil

3 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 lb. Gruyere cheese, sliced thinly

8 slices deli ham

Preheat panini grill. Spread Dijon on 4 of the bread slices and top with 2 slices of ham. Spread the sauce evenly on top of the ham. Layer cheese on top and top with another slice of bread. Oil both outer sides of sandwich and cook on panini press about 5 minutes until sandwich is golden and crispy.

For a Croque Madame, add a fried egg to top of sandwich! (DD likes it this way - I do too!)

(I always double the recipe for the sauce, as we all like extra to dip our sandwiches in!) 

I will also be making San Antonio Chili (white chicken) and Cajun Bean Soup (for DH).

Do you have any special ideas for the upcoming "snowmagedden" of 2026?  

[haddon9]

I saw a YouTube short the other day for "Tuscan chicken orzo".

It sounded easy & delicious so I'm going to give it a try.

In a greased casserole dish add two cups of uncooked orzo and spread on the bottom. Place everything in the casserole dish on top of the orzo....

Add 3 1/2 cups chicken broth.

1/2 cup heavy cream.

1 lb of chicken breast cut up.

Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning (they didn't say how much)

A small jar of sun dried tomatoes in oil. Cut them up.

Bag of fresh spinach cut that up too.

Put in 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Remove from oven & stir.

Add a cup of shredded Parmesan cheese & fold it in & serve.

[beach-mom]

Sounds good @haddon9! I will definitely have to try it.  

[beach-mom]

Phase One of "Snowed In" Recipes 

It felt SO good to sleep in today! I made this recipe. It's from a cookbook my grandmother gave me when I was 14. I've been making it since. I haven't made it in a while and thought this would be the perfect morning to do it!

Quiche Lorraine 

Pastry:

1-1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour 

1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, cut into small pieces 

3 Tbsp. solid shortening 

3 Tbsp. ice water 

Filling:

1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled 

1/4 lb. (1 cup) Gruyère cheese, grated 

4 eggs 

1 Tbsp. flour 

1-1/4 c. milk or half and half, or heavy cream 

1/2 tsp. salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 Tbsp. butter, melted 

Measure flour and salt into a bowl. Add butter or margarine and shortening. Combine with a pastry blender or fingers. Add water a little at a time. Stir with a fork and form pastry into a ball. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Roll on a lightly floured board and fix pastry into a 9" quiche dish or pie plate. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put bacon and cheese and place into the uncooked pie shell. In a small bowl combine eggs, flour, milk or cream, salt and pepper. Pour over the bacon and cheese. Add melted butter on top. Bake for 30 minutes until custard is firm and golden. Serve hot or cold. 

* I usually use all butter since I rarely use shortening. It was fine.

I always shred the Gruyère instead of grating it. 

I always use 2% milk. 

I always end up using more than 3 Tbsp. ice water for the dough. 

[beach-mom]

Day two of being snowed in: 

San Antonio Chili (white chicken) is in the crockpot for later.

Croque Monsieurs (or in my case Madame) coming up now for after snow blowing and shoveling.

Back to reality tomorrow morning.  

[shoptilyadropagain]

Over the weekend, everybody was posting on FB about making chili but I opted to make Sausage, potatoes & green beans.  I hadn't made that in years and had picked up the sausage a couple of months ago.

[lork]

Last weekend I made a tasty soup of ground sausage, potatoes, sweet peppers, pinto beans and onions in a tomato based soup, flavored with a bay leaf.  Loving chili, I had almost overdosed on it during the holidays and had planned on making another pot of it for a gathering later in the week.  Here in south central Kansas the ground is still snow covered and temperatures continue to drop in the evening.  UHG!!!  Thank goodness for hot soup!