Fr Alex's Recipes for this week

For the kitchen
Croque Monsieur
or Croque Madame
INGREDIENTS
For the sandwich
  • 4 slices from a white sourdough or crusty white
  • 20g butter, melted
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 100g grated Gruyère cheese
  • 4 thin slices of great smoked ham
For the béchamel sauce
  • 125ml milk
  • 125ml cream
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 20g butter
  • 20g plain flour
  • 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
  • fresh nutmeg, grated
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp mayonnaise
Method

First, make a perfect béchamel sauce. Put the milk, cream, garlic, bay leaves and onion in a small pan over a medium heat and stir together.
Heat until nearly boiling, then turn the heat off and leave for 10 mins to infuse.
Pass the liquid through a sieve and discard the bay and onion.
Melt the butter with the flour in another pan and cook over a gentle heat until it smells biscuity.
Gradually whisk in the warm milk and bring to a gentle boil, stirring regularly, then add the Dijon mustard, a little grating of fresh nutmeg and some seasoning.
It should be a lovely thick creamy  sauce with a deep flavour.

Brush the slices of bread with melted butter.
Place them on a baking tray and toast one side under a grill, buttered-side up, until golden.
Take them out and heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
Turn the bread over and spread each slice with a thin layer of Dijon, followed by a layer of the béchamel.
Cover the sauce with grated Gruyère, and then a slice of ham.
Form the slices into two sandwiches, spread a thin layer of the sauce over the top slice and sprinkle more Gruyère on top.

Put the sandwiches in the oven and bake for 10-15 mins or until golden.
Mix the mustard and mayo together and serve alongside.

(To make a ‘Croque Madame’ simply cut a hole in
the top slice of bread and insert a fried egg in it –
if lazy cook a fried egg; lay on top)
VOILA!
For the bar
Between the Sheets


INGREDIENTS
1 Measure of White Rum
1 Measure of Brandy
1 Measure of Cointreau
Dash of Lemon Juice

METHOD
Shake with ice, and
strain into a cocktail glass laden with crushed ice.
Garnish with Lemon peel
    Please note:
    Some recipes don’t bother with the dash of lemon, leaving the drink entirely composed of strong alcohol; while others stir it in a jug rather than shaking it.
    It is well to leave some ice in it - however you fancy it - as this is a lethally powerful mixture.