Leige Waffles

Ingredients

1 3/4 tsp yeast                                                                       -----------------

1/3 cup lukewarm water (not hot, don’t make the yeast mad)                    \

1 and ½ tablespoons average granulated sugar                                         (Proof together 5 min)

1 tablespoon brown sugar                                                                           /

Pinch of salt                                                                           -----------------

2 cups bread flour       

3 eggs

1 cup melted real butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla 

Rise and then fold in sugar

1 1/3 cup pearl sugar

Instructions

Mix the yeast, water, sugar and salt in a bowl and set aside to develop. While the yeast is activating, place the flour in large mixing bowl and melt the butter. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and mix at medium speed until well blended. Add the eggs, butter, and vanilla and mix well. The batter will be very sticky. That means you are doing it correctly.

Put the dough aside to rise until it has doubled in size. Gently fold in the pearl sugar and allow the dough to rest once more while you wait for the waffle iron to heat. Spoon a 2 inch ball of dough into the waffle iron and bake until golden brown with slick sugar spots on the outside.

• Don’t be skimpy with the pearl sugar, even though it is expensive. The sugar makes the waffle.
• A true Belgian waffle maker is needed to really get the perfect Liege waffle. Our standard waffle iron does not have deep enough pockets to really allow the batter to sink in and caramelize the sugar. It is also preferable to have an iron with an adjustable temperature, so the sugar has time to melt before the batter burns.
• Melted sugar is hot. Let the waffles cool

Adapted from Suitcases and Sippy cups Leige Waffle recipe

Croque-Monsieur

This is a french dish I was introduced to by a friend. It sounded interresting so I decided to give it a try. The English translatioin is Crisy Mister which I found interresting and wonder why such a name. The sauce can either be put on the top of the bread or on the inside. I recommend the top, especially if you are a novice at the broiler like I am. The sauce prevents the bread from drying out and burning like my attempt did. I however did one with the sauce on the top just to try the difference and it faired just fine in the broiler where the others burned. I have included the chef's commments at the preface to his recipie.

A simple dish can be such an important dish -- both for diners and chefs. To me, that's the croque monsieur: bread, ham, cheese, and béchamel all toasted together to make the ultimate ham-and-cheese. I can remember my first one: It was 1996, and I was on my first trip to France to apprentice at the elegant Château Les Crayère in Reims. I bounded off the plane, ready to take on Paris. Good plan -- but I didn't speak much French and got lost. Then I realized I was missing a bag. Needless to say, I wasn't in the best mood. I wandered into a café and ordered a croque monsieur and a beer. That first bite was a wave of happiness. It hit all the right notes -- saltiness from the cheese, smokiness from the ham, the crunch of the toast offset by the creamy béchamel. You can't go wrong with the basics: a quality French- or Italian-style loaf of bread (not baguette), good Gruyère (the Franche-Comté is best), and a decent cured ham, like Black Forest. Sure, you can dress it up -- add peppered bacon or play around with different types of bread -- but I'm not so sure that any of that will make this classic any better. That's one of the secrets to being a good cook: You have to know when to leave well enough alone. --David Myers

Serves: 2

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 12 minutes


1 tbsp butter, plus softened butter for bread
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup whole milk
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
2 tbsp Parmigiano, grated
3 oz Gruyère cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup). If you can, get Franche-Comté.
4 slices French or Italian loaf bread
Dijon mustard
6 oz thinly sliced ham, about 6 slices. (We used a package of Applegate Farms organic uncured ham: 7 oz equals 7 slices.)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. To make béchamel sauce: In a small saucepan on low heat, melt butter until foamy. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly with a flat sauce whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly add milk, stirring continuously, and cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and season with nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in Parmigiano and 2 tbsp grated Gruyère. Reserve.

3. Lightly and evenly butter bread slices on both sides and toast both sides in sauté pan over low heat until just golden brown.

4. Spread one side of each toasted slice with mustard. Evenly place the ham slices and about ½ cup Gruyère cheese on two of the bread slices. Top each with one of remaining bread slices, mustard-side down.

5. Spread béchamel sauce to cover the top of each sandwich (crusts, too). Sprinkle evenly with the remaining Gruyère cheese. Place on oven-safe sheet pan and bake 5 minutes at 350 degrees, then place under lit broiler until cheese mixture on top is bubbling and lightly browned, about 3 minutes.

Tip: Cover the edges of the bread with the béchamel or they can get a little too crisp in contrast to the rest of the sandwich.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

chicken breasts (slice in half decreasing the thickness not the length)
ham slices
mozzarella cheese

The first 3 ingredients use the number one of each per serving.

Flatten out your chicken breast and place a slice of ham on top, then place a piece of mozarella cheese cut to fit on top of the ham (usually 1" by 1/2").

Roll the chicken up and roll it in a bath of egg wash then dip into seasoned flour and place in bottom of glass baking dish coated with butter. Hold chicken together with toothpick if desired. Place 3 to four tbsp butter into pan while baking. Bake for 3o minutes in 350 degree oven.

White sauce:

Take the drippings from the baking dish and add:
1 cup can milk or heavy cream
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 chicken bullion cube disolved

Heat until thickened and pour over warm chicken after placed on serving platter.