Love to Eat

That said, while I may make the French language sound like nails on a chalkboard, I can assure you that I make one very Crunchy Mister, or Croque Monsieur… And what is a Croque Monsieur if not some ham and cheese on a baguette slathered with butter and grilled? Well, there are crocks and then, there are croques… and I think there are a couple of things that make the taste of a Croque Monsieur pop. Some recipes already include a Mornay sauce, and I think that is essential. But to me, the perfect ham for this dish is sweet Serrano ham, which is Spanish. Am I bastardizing the French sandwich with a Spanish ham… ah oui/sí!  The sweetness of the ham just blends beautifully with the Gruyère cheese and the nutmeg in the Mornay sauce. Here’s how I do it:

Croque Monsieur With Mornay Sauce and Sweet Serrano Ham

1 Large French Baguette

1/2  pound sliced Gruyère or Swiss Cheese

1/2  pound sliced sweet Serrano ham (Make sure you get the sweet Serrano, and not the salty type. It makes a HUGE difference to the taste of the end product and you will have a crock monsiuer on your hands if you use the wrong ham.) If you cannot find sweet Serrano ham in your area, use a sweet ham.

1 to 2 tbs Soft or melted butter

Mornay Sauce

In this version, I use more Gruyère cheese than is usually called for in the recipe. I like a thick sauce to apply to the bread, and it melts very well on the grill.

3/4  cup Gruyère or Swiss cheese. You can either grate the cheese or tear the slices up into small pieces.

2 tbs flour

2 tbs butter

1 cup warm milk – As soon as you see bubbles forming around the sides of the pan in which you’re warming the milk, it’s time to take it off the fire.

Salt and White Pepper to taste (I usually don’t add salt, since the cheese has enough saltiness for me, but you can add white pepper if you like. I usually skip the pepper too.)

Adding Extra Cheese to the Mornay Sauce Makes it Very Thick. It Melts Well in the Sandwich. Yum!

Nutmeg – a pinch. (I love the flavor of nutmeg and find that it complements this dish really well, so I add a pinch plus!)

You can make this sandwich in a panini grill or by using your stovetop and broiler. Begin by heating up your panini grill to 350 degrees or medium high heat, or preheating your broiler, if you’re going to prepare your croque by way of stovetop. If you can invest in a panini grill and love toasted sandwiches, it’s the way to go. For me, the stovetop method is just not as convenient as the grill.   

For the sauce, begin by melting the butter in a medium sized pan over medium-high heat until it’s just hot. Then add the flour and stir until the roux is a light yellow, careful not to let it get brown. About 1 minute. It will also have a nutty aroma. Next, slowly begin to whisk in the warm milk, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce to low heat, so the sauce simmers and add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to stir. Now you’re ready to add your cheese. Mix in your cheese until melted. Set the sauce aside.

Cut the baguette into approximately six equal pieces and slice open each one, leaving a hinge. Here is where there is a difference in the way the sandwich is put together, depending on whether you’re using a grill or the stovetop.

Panini Grill

Open up the bread and spread the Mornay Sauce on both sides. Place 1 slice of cheese on each side of the bread, over the Mornay sauce. Place 3 to 4 slices of the sweet Serrano ham in the middle of the sandwich. Close the sandwich. Before beginning to grill, slather on soft or melted butter on the tops and bottoms of the sandwiches. TIP: The reason you want to put the cheese on the outside of the sandwich closest to the bread, and not in the middle is that if you have a panini press which heats on both the top and bottom sides, then your cheese will melt better as it is closest to the heating source. If your grill heats only on the top, then you’ll want to turn the sandwich. That is a tip that has helped me avoid the “cold hard cheese in the middle” trap. Place the sandwiches on the grill. Leave to grill for about 4 minutes or until the bread is crispy and the cheese is melted. Remove the sandwiches from the grill and serve immediately.

Croque Monsieur Right Before Grilling

Stovetop

Prepare the sandwiches the same as above, except do not apply the Mornay sauce to the inside of the bread. In a heavy skillet melt 1 tablespoon of butter on low heat. When hot, add one sandwich at a time and cook until a the bread is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Then flip the sandwich and repeat with the other side. Move the sandwich to a baking sheet. Do the remaining sandwiches the same way. When all the sandwiches been cooked on the stovetop, spoon on the Mornay sauce over the sandwiches and, if you like, add grated Gruyère cheese to the top. Place the baking sheet in the broiler until brown, about 1 to 2 minutes depending on the broiler. Keep an eye on it though! You’d hate it to burn at this stage!! For the stovetop version, it may be easier to eat, if you use slices of bread instead of a baguette for the sandwich, but the taste will be affected.  

Now, that’s a Crunchy Mister!

During the summer, the heat reduces appetite… Okay, not always, and not successfully and I’m not using the “D” word in this blog, so let’s not go there…But for days where you want something light, tangy, and very South Florida, this simple white fish recipe fits the bill. It is packed with lime flavor, much of it derived from the grated lime rind which is incorporated into the marinade. Together with butter, it makes for a rich, delicious, easy-to-make meal which will leave you feeling satisfied, without being stuffed.

South Florida Lime White Fish

Winslow Wants to Know Whats for Lunch

1 pound of white fish – Pacific halibut,  talapia, or mahi mahi

2 Persian limes – the conventional lime you get in most grocery stores

Grated lime peel from 2 limes

1 1/2 to 2 tablespoon melted butter

Nutmeg

Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

1/3 cup of white wine (optional)

Garnish with parsley

Melt the butter in a saucepan or in a microwave oven and pour it into a baking dish. Grate two limes, careful not to add any part of the pith of the lime. The pith is the bitter white part of the skin. Squeeze the juice from the two limes into the baking dish, careful to remove any seeds. Grate a touch of nutmeg and mix the marinade. Add sea salt and pepper to the fish and place it in the baking dish. Thorougly cover the fish in the marinade and let it stand for at least a couple of hours to absorb the flavors. If you like, you can add white wine as well, although I prefer it without. For me, the joy of this dish is the delicious, unadulterated lime/butter flavor.

Baked to Perfection

Bake at 350 degrees uncoverd for about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how thick the fillet is. You’ll know it’s done when the fish flakes effortelssly with a fork.

Garnish with parsley and serve! Great side accompaniments are mashed potatoes or sauted zuchinni. Mashed potatoes are perfect for this dish because they soak up the delicious butter/lime sauce. A scrumptious, simple, and healthy (yes, I think some butter is healthy) meal to serve friends. They’ll love it!

To give this dish a uniquely Keys flavor, you can substitute the 2 limes for 3 to 4 Key Limes. Key Limes tend to be a bit more acidic, intense, and aromatic than the regular Persian lime, so less packs more. Also, careful when grating the Key Lime. It has a thin rind, and you will find that you will reach the pith without too much effort when grating the skin. However, it makes for a real Key’s experience. You’ll feel you’re on Duval Sreet in Key West!

A recent op-ed column from James Carroll at Boston.com was titled,  ”A solstice approaches, unnoticed”. Well, obviously Mr. Carroll is not into cooking or eating. The coming of summer brings so many delightful fruits into season: blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, boysenberries, cantaloupe and for us in South Florida, Mangoes! Yes, that delicious vitamin A and C packed goodie. And while so many outside our region see it as an exotic fruit, truth is most of us down here have been eating it since we were born. 

The summer solstice is a celebration of the sun and a harnessing of its power to give us strength. One way to celebrate this new season, it has been suggested, is to reflect upon an area of our lives in which we need strength and to capture that energy from the sun. And here, the sun is so hot, that you can feel its power beating down. Yellow/orange  like the sun is the mango’s ripe flesh, perfect for Mungo’s Mango Jam. Mungo, another of my dogs – a true kindred spirt - was the inspiration of this spread, since he loved mangoes and he would have delighted in the rich flavor of this jam. In looking at other recipes for mango jam, I have found that many add ridiculously large amounts of sugar. A good mango is naturally sweet and needs little, if any, added sugar when turning it into a jam. The following recipe is really easy and one that has been very well received by friends and family alike. 

Mungo’s Mango Jam

12 ripe mangoes (this makes A LOT of jam)

1/4 cup organic sugar

Mungos Mango Jam

That’s it. No pectin, no water. Now, comes the dirty, rotten part of the job. The part that makes you wonder whether it’s all worth it. It is. Peel and cut the mangoes. I found that an ice cream scooper does a terrific job of getting the flesh out of the bigger slices of mangoes. The tricky part is getting the meat off the pit. That is no mean feat. You may find that initially cutting it with a knife works well, but then you’ll need to dig into it with clean hands to get as much pulp as you can.

Next, put the mango pieces in an oversized pot. Add the sugar. Put the flame on medium-high and begin stirring. After a while, the mango will begin to break up and will seem to liquefy. Continue stirring until the mango mush (it’s an accurate description) begins to simmer. At that point, lower the heat to a high low (you want it on low, but you want it to continue to simmer and cook). Let it cook, stirring from time to time. This is the second nasty bit. You do have to be on top of it and stir it fairly often. Taste the spread. It should be sweet enough if your mangoes were ripe and sweet. But you can add additional sugar to taste if you find that it is not sweet enough. In the process of making jams, I have found that if the fruit itself is not sweet, and has an acid flavor, it is very difficult to get rid of that by adding sugar. It’s never really masked. Also, too much sugar makes the preserve overly sticky and too sweet. So make sure you use the sweetest mangoes available.

After about an hour or so, when your arm is about to fall off, carpel tunnel syndrome means more to you than an entry in Wikipedia, and you are seriously considering whether this was a good idea in the first place, your mango spread will reduce and become thick. Take it off the fire and let it cool. The spread will also get a bit thicker as it cools.

Some people like to add pectin. I do not use this preservative, as I tend to eat the jam rather quickly after making it and I always refrigerate. But for those who like to use pectin, that is an option.

Transfer the jam to properly prepared Mason jars …. assuming it gets there and is not eaten in the process… and enjoy!

An interesting set off of flavors for those of you who like cream cheese is to serve the pure jam over a bit of cream cheese. This can be spread over water crackers or eaten pure. It is delicious! Other types of cheese may work well too. Experiment and let us know!