Columbus Foodie

I’ve been wanting to try a Croque Madame for quite a while now, and while we were out at Easton this past weekend to make the Sur La Table stop, we decided to stop at Bon Vie while they were still serving brunch on Sunday and both ordered the Croque Madame - this recipe is based on that, with bechamel sauce in place of the traditional hollandaise. The recipe for the bechamel sauce is taken from a Rachael Ray recipe, but the rest of the sandwich is served open face like we had at Bon Vie, with poetic license taken on my part. Our version of it was abfab, better even than Bon Vie’s, I think. Not a pretty picture, but you can see all the layers here (french toast bottom, gruyere, ham, eggs, and bechamel). The recipe is a sum of its parts, so prepare each part individual first, to assemble at the end. This dish has the added benefit of being mostly local (2Silos guinea hen eggs, ham from Thurn’s, Challah baked at Whole Foods, Ohio butter).

Croque Madame
bechamel sauce courtesy Rachael Ray, rest of recipe inspired by the dish at Bon Vie

Bechamel Sauce:

2 tbsp. butter
2 rounded tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. Dijon mustard (I used whole grain Dijon)

Place a small saucepot over medium low heat and melt two tablespoons of butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute or so. Whisk in the milk and bring it to a bubble and then drop the heat to low. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg and Dijon. When sauce thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, turn off the heat.

Fried Eggs:

6 eggs (we used Guinea Hen, but you can use any kind)
2 tbsp. butter

Fry eggs in butter to your desired doneness - we did ours over easy.

French Toast:

4 slices Challah bread
2 eggs, beaten with 1 tbsp. cream
2 tbsp, butter.

Additional ingredients:
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
4 slices baked ham

Instructions:

Prepare bechamel sauce and then set aside. Dip challah bread in egg batter, and fry in the butter. After flipping over the first time, sprinkle about 1/4 cup of cheese on each french toast slice and put one slice of ham on each. Keep on heat until bottom of French Toast is browned and cheese is melted and ham is warmed. Plate the sandwich open faced style, 2 pieces of bread to a plate. Fry eggs, and then top each pair of French Toast with three fried eggs. Spoon bechamel sauce over fried eggs and serve.

For this installment of Presto Pasta Night, I used the short ribs I got at Up the Lane Cattle at the Worthington Farmer’s Market a couple of weeks ago to make a Giada De Laurentiis recipe, Short Ribs with Tagliatelle.

The great thing about this recipe is that if you cook the short ribs the day before, you can let them sit overnight so you can scrape off all the excess fat that you get with short ribs - and shredding the meat also lets you discard fatty bits, and just concentrate pure short rib flavor. We used the fresh tagliatelle in our version that you get at Giant Eagle, although I’m sure dried will work as well.

Short Ribs with Tagliatelle
courtesy Giada De Laurentiis/Food Network

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces chopped pancetta (about 1/2 cup)
2 1/2 pounds short ribs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes (whole or diced)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine
1 pound fresh or dried tagliatelle
4 to 6 teaspoons shaved bittersweet chocolate

Place the olive oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium heat. Cook the pancetta until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, season the short ribs with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan and set aside. Add the short ribs to the pan and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total. Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, parsley and garlic in a food processor and blend until finely minced. Then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and pulse.

Once the short ribs are browned, carefully add the mixture from the food processor to the pot. Return the pancetta to the pot and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Remove the meat and bones from the pot. Discard the bones. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes for dried pasta and 2 to 3 minutes for fresh. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta liquid 1/4 cup at a time, if needed, to moisten the pasta. Transfer to serving bowls, top each bowl with 1 teaspoon of chocolate shavings. Serve immediately.