Oven Baked Monte Cristos

Serves: 6

4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp sugar (I usually leave this out)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
12 slices rye bread, lightly toasted
8 oz Gruyere cheese (or Swiss)
8 oz thinly sliced good quality ham
Non stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450F. Place a baking sheet with rim in the oven to heat. Whisk eggs, milk and sugar (if desired) in shallow bowl until well blended. Spread Dijon mustard on each slice of toast. Layer with cheese, ham and another slice of cheese. Remove baking sheet from oven, spray with non stick spray. Dip each sandwich into egg mixture, coating both sides and place on baking sheet. Bake 5 minutes.

Cheese Straws

I've only made these once with D's mom's help. I am not used to making pastry and needed some guidance, it's not easy to understand from a recipe if you've never done it before. At D's parent's house, the cheese straws usually come out at Christmas time and they are EXPENSIVE! So I tried making them. They aren't that hard and a lot cheaper to make rather than buy. I would try spicing these up more next time with either jalapenos in the mixture or more cayenne pepper or sprinkling them with paprika. Oh, and I never said these were healthy!

14 tbsp butter. room temperature
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, plus some for rolling
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

*Apparently the trick to pastry is incorporate the flour as quickly as possible into the butter. *

Put the butter in a bowl and cut to pieces using a knife. Quickly work the flour, cheese, Worcestershire, salt, and cayenne pepper into the butter by rubbing the mixture between your thumbs, middle and ring fingers, using only fingertips and being as gentle as possible. Lift it up high while doing this and let the mixture fall back into the bowl to incorporate air. Do this long enough to make the mixture crumbly with a few odd lumps here and there. Chill mixture for at least an hour.

Roll small amounts of dough into a long tube about the width of a straw and cut into desired lengths. Gently twist. Arrange on ungreased baking sheets and bake at 300F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Pot Roast with Vegetables

Serves: 6

1 can (4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
1 box (2.2 oz) beefy onion soup mix (2 pkts)
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3-lb boneless beef chuck roast
4 carrots, cut in 2-in. lengths
2 parsnips, peeled, cut in 2-in. lengths
5 medium red-skinned potatoes, sliced 1/2 in. thick


Whisk soup, soup mix, wine, rosemary and garlic in an oval 2 qt or larger slow-cooker until blended. Add beef; turn to coat. Arrange carrots, parsnips and potatoes around meat. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours, or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove meat to cutting board and slice. Place on serving platter. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon; arrange around beef. Spoon some gravy on meat. Serve remaining gravy at the table.