Morels And Comte Cheese On Grilled Toast Recipes

Steps:

• If necessary, trim off ends of morels. If they are large cut in half or in quarters, depending on size.
• Heat butter in saucepan and add shallots. Cook, stirring, until wilted.
• Add morels and cook, shaking saucepan and stirring often, about 2 minutes.
• Add wine and cook about 1 minute. Add cream, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and cook about 1 minute. Serve as vegetable or, if desired, on toast or on freshly cooked, drained pasta.

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the onions are softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. If the onions look dry or like they might burn, add a few tablespoons of water at a time, scraping up any browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the skillet. If desired, once the onions are done, deglaze the skillet with vinegar and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 1 minute. Transfer the onions to a medium bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Wipe out the skillet, or wash it, if necessary.
• Add the cheese to the onions and stir to combine. Put down two slices of bread, and scoop half of the cheese-onion mixture onto each one. Top with the remaining slices of bread, and press down gently.
• In the skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the sandwiches and cook until the bottoms turn golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, reducing the heat to prevent toast from darkening too quickly, if needed. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, flip the sandwiches, press down and cook until the cheese has fully melted and the bottoms turn golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Cover the morels with water and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain them and rinse with cold water, then cut in half lengthwise. Rinse again, making sure they are cleaned of any grit or sand, and drain well.
• Preheat the broiler.
• In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the morels and the fresh mushrooms and cook until they have absorbed the butter and wilted, several minutes.
• Toast the bread on both sides under the broiler.
• Add the creme fraiche to the mushrooms, increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the creme fraiche has reduced by half, several minutes more.
• Add the cheese to the morel-and-creme-fraiche mixture and cook, stirring constantly, just until the cheese is melted and incorporated into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place a generous tablespoon of the mushroom-and-cheese mixture onto each piece of toast, sprinkle liberally with chives and broil just until hot and bubbling. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Prepare the confit, or preserved duck. This can be done weeks in advance or the same day if desired. To reduce the amount of time the dish takes, it is best to make it at least a day ahead.
• The day before the cassoulet will be served prepare the beans. Rinse them well and pick them over to eliminate tiny stones. Put them in a Dutch oven or large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, cover and remove from the heat. Allow to sit 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in another large saucepan cover the fresh pork rind or bacon with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer for several minutes, rinse, drain and set aside. This is done to remove the salt, which would have a toughening effect on the beans.
• By this time the beans should have swollen. Discard the liquid (to help make the beans more digestible), rinse the beans and cover them again with cold water. Add the bay leaves, thyme, and drained pork rind or bacon and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil vigorously for about 45 minutes to one hour, or until the beans are quite well-cooked but still a bit firm. Add the carrots and additional boiling water if necessary and cook an additional 15 minutes, or just until the carrots are cooked. The mixture should not be too dry. Remove from the heat, stir in a tablespoon salt and allow to cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• In a very large frying pan melt three tablespoons goose fat (or butter). Add the sausages all in a single coil, if you can, and cook them over medium heat for about 12 minutes on one side, about 6 minutes on the other side. (Remember which side was cooked for the shorter time. When the cassoulet is assembled, you will place the sausage with the less cooked side down, so the remaining fat will soak into the bean mixture.) You need not prick the sausage. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside.
• In the same saucepan, add an additional three tablespoons goose fat (if necessary) to cook the confit. If the confit was made ahead, let it come to room temperature to soften the fat and remove all of the confit pieces, wiping off the fat as you remove them. Now saute the pieces of confit over medium-high heat until the skin is very crisp and turns a rich, deep brown. Baste off the fat as necessary. The duck should cook about five to 10 minutes on each side. Remove from the frying pan, drain and set aside.
• Remove the bean mixture from the refrigerator to bring to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In the same frying pan, add two tablespoons goose fat (if necessary) and cook the onions over high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the liquid and a clove garlic and cook until the mixture is fairly dry, or about 30 minutes. The mixture should be a rich, deep red. Combine the bean and carrot mixture with the tomato and onion mixture.
• Remove the bones from the duck confit and cut the duck into large chunks without removing the skin.
• Assemble the cassoulet in a large, earthenware casserole. An oval casserole measuring 12 by 17 by 3 inches deep is a perfect size for this recipe. Rub the inside of the casserole with one clove of garlic and discard the garlic. Layer in this order: a single layer of the bean mixture, using about a third of it. Cover this with the cutup pieces of duck. Add a second layer of the bean mixture. Add the sausages in one layer with less-cooked side down. Add the last layer of beans. Finally, add the bread-crumb mixture. Be sure there is at least half an inch of growing space between the bread crumbs and the rim of the casserole.
• Place in the oven and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the crust is golden and firm. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with the milk and water. Add the garlic, salt and bay leaves and, with the pan partially covered, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so that the potatoes do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring from time to time, until the potatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 10 minutes.
• Using a large, flat strainer, transfer half the potatoes to an eight-cup gratin dish. Sprinkle with nutmeg, pepper, half the cream and half the cheese. Cover with the remaining potatoes and sprinkle again with pepper, nutmeg and the remaining cream and cheese. (Discard the milk, water and herbs in which the potatoes were cooked.)
• Bake until the gratin is crisp and golden on top, about one hour. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: Place the milk, yeast, and a quarter cup of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir until thoroughly blended and let sit to proof the yeast, about five minutes.
• Stir in the remaining flour, the salt and eggs, and mix thoroughly. Gradually work in the butter, then turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth, about five minutes, adding additional flour as needed. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
• Place the dough in a large bowl, cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about one and a half hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a 10 1/2-inch round ceramic baking dish.
• Punch down the dough and spread the dough over the bottom of the baking dish. Do not build up the sides, as in a normal tart.
• Prepare the topping: If the Maroilles rind is particularly hard, remove it. Otherwise, cut the cheese into thin slices and place them evenly on top of the dough. (If using Veritable Chaumes, remove the rind).
• Whisk the egg, egg yolk and creme fraiche in a small mixing bowl until well blended. Pour this mixture over the cheese and spread it to the edge of the dough.
• Dot the top with the butter and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Bake until the top is brown and bubbly, about 35 minutes. Cut the tart into wedges and serve.