>Croques Monsieurs

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Using a shallow grill pan, a heavy plate and a lid, croques monsieurs are easily made on the cooker or stove-top. Sandwiches are flipped when the cheese on the bottom is soft. Continue cooking, with the lid on top. I do not bother to replace the heavy plate after the croques monsieurs are turned.

Thinly-sliced ham, together with Swiss cheese, home-made bread and a few spoonfuls of butter are transformed into the French luncheon classic, croques monsieurs. Served with a salad or soup, they are part of an elegant luncheon.

Serve croques monsieurs with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard on the side.
©M-J de Mesterton 2011

Elegant Croque Monsieur

Swiss cheese and Black Forest ham are pan-grilled inside of two buttered pain brioché slices. This dish is a frequent component of an elegant luncheon, accompanied by cream of celery soup, artichoke soup, or carrot Vichyssoise.

>Elegant Vegetable Soup with Miso

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I used the poaching-liquid from a batch of chicken-breasts, a tablespoon of miso, home-grown beets, parsley, poblano peppers, carrots, celery and a packet of shirataki noodles made from soy to make this health-promoting soup. Following the example of French chefs through the ages, I did not let the liquid from poaching chicken go to waste.

©M-J de Mesterton

The elegant vegetable soup is ready to serve.

>Elegant Luncheon Dishes

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See the Elegant Cook for Recipes

>M-J’s Elegant Green-Pea Soup

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See Elegant Survival for M-J’s Original Recipe
Potage aux Petits Pois Printanière

Elegant Vegetable Soup

>Elegant Quiche Lorraine

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See The Elegant Cook for M-J’s Recipe

>Elegant Cornish Pasties

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M-J de Mesterton’s Cornish-Style Pasties

OCTOBER 3, 2009

Home-Gardens Yield lots of Turnips, onions and potatoes in Autumn: Use Them the Traditional Cornish Way for a Nutritious, Easy-to-Serve, Elegant Luncheon

tags: Cornish Pasty Recipe, Elegant Meat Dishes, How to Make Cornish Pasties, M-J de Mesterton Original, M-J de Mesterton’s Cornish Pasties, Pasty, Pasty of the Copper Country

by M-J de Mesterton

Devon-Style Pasty Made by M-J de Mesterton (Pasties Crimped on Top)

I’ve been making Cornish pasties since the age of 20. My mother wrote a book about the pasty and its history which was published in 1990, but my method and ingredients differ from hers. The following is  my pasty (pronounced “pass-tee”) recipe: I will not formally transcribe my recipe and method for making pasties, because  I never use measurements. I can tell you, however, that they are made with a short crust containing both butter and lard, water, a teaspoon of malt vinegar, and unbleached, plain white flour. Since salted butter is used in the dough, add just a dash of salt to it.  I add sea-salt and hand-milled pepper to the filling, which consists of  four ingredients, diced very finely: tri-tip steak, which is always well-marbled and never tough; ordinary, high-starch brown-skinned potatoes, turnips, butter bits, and white or Spanish onions. The finely-diced beef and vegetables are tossed together in a mixing bowl with the salt and pepper before being laid upon the dough, dotted with butter and enclosed. The edges are crimped, either on top or on the side of the pasty, and a couple of well-placed slits are made in the top to allow steam to escape. The final product is brushed with a beaten egg mixed with a teaspoon of cream. The pasties are then baked in a very hot oven for close to one hour. Once the pasties have cooled for about twenty minutes, serve with an oil-and-vinegar-dressed lettuce salad. Offer Cornish cream, crème fraîche, Mexican Crema, or sour cream as an optional condiment. The pasties depicted here, which I made,  are the optimum size for a meal; the dough for them was shaped into a ball about half the size of a woman’s closed hand, then was rolled out and cut around a 7″ luncheon plate.  Making giant pasties just isn’t elegant, nor is it traditionally Cornish. I also make miniature pasties for parties, by using a tin can or the bottom, inner ridge of the same luncheon plate as a cutting guide. These mini-pasties are easily eaten by hand with a bread-plate or cocktail napkin to catch any pastry-flakes. For a basic short-crust guide, please see my Elegant Apple Pie recipe.~~Recipe and Pasty Photos Copyright M-J de Mesterton

Cornish Pasty Made by M-J de Mesterton, Copyright 2009

>M-J’s Elegant Autumn Potato Salad

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M-J’s Elegant Autumn Potato Salad

Like the potato salad that my Swedish grandmother used to make for me, this dish relies upon some bacon, vinegar, and an onion.

Peel, quarter and boil eight medium sized potatoes, or ten small ones. Salt the boiling water. Alternatively, add some Maggi or Knorr chicken bouillon powder.
Boil the potato chunks for fifteen minutes. Drain but do not rinse them. In your cooking pot, sauté eight strips of bacon, finely chopped. Remove the bacon bits with a slotted spoon. and reserve in a small bowl or cup. Empty out  half of the bacon fat. Add two tablespoons of vegetable oil (I use peanut oil) and two tablespoons of vinegar (I use malt vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar). If you have it, a tablespoon of concentrated apple juice can be added to this dressing mixture. You will adjust the vinegar and oil to your taste after the initial mixing of all ingredients. Add the potatoes, one finely diced small onion (red, white or yellow), and one diced, unpeeled apple. Grind some pepper into the mixture for taste, and check for salt. Mix gently. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature for  best flavor.

~~Recipe and Photo of Autumn Potato Salad Copyright M-J de Mesterton, 2008 

Elegant Cabbage Salad

M-J’s ELEGANT CABBAGE SALAD

 Click for larger view.

Elegant, Delicious  Simplicity with Traditional Cabbage 

Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable, thus its consumption is believed to help prevent cancer. 

Slice cabbage as finely as possible, rinse it under very hot water, spin it dry, then dress it with oil, vinegar, and the seasonings of your choice.  Your dressed cabbage  will, of course, be ready to eat immediately, but the longer you let this traditional European salad marinate, the better it will taste, and its texture will be very pleasant.

Variations on the Cabbage Salad Theme 

 For Mexican flavour, add a little lime juice; sliced, roasted jalapeños and some chopped cilantro to your marinated cabbage.

A delicious Cypriot village salad will have finely sliced cabbage and/or  lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, feta cheese and some Kalamata olives.

A French salad with cabbage contains  chunks Comte cheese, walnuts, lemon juice and olive oil.

© M-J de Mesterton, February 12th, 2010 

Carbohydrate-Count of Cabbage 

Elegant Cabbage Salad

ELEGANT CABBAGE SALAD

 Click for larger view.

Elegant, Delicious  Simplicity with Traditional Cabbage 

Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable, thus its consumption is believed to help prevent cancer. 

Slice cabbage as finely as possible, rinse it under very hot water, spin it dry, then dress it with oil, vinegar, and the seasonings of your choice.  Your dressed cabbage  will, of course, be ready to eat immediately, but the longer you let this traditional European salad marinate, the better it will taste, and its texture will be very pleasant.

Variations on the Cabbage Salad Theme 

 For Mexican flavour, add a little lime juice; sliced, roasted jalapeños and some chopped cilantro to your marinated cabbage.

A delicious Cypriot village salad will have finely sliced cabbage and/or  lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, feta cheese and some Kalamata olives.

A French salad with cabbage contains  chunks of Comte cheese,  some walnuts, lemon juice and olive oil.

© M-J de Mesterton, February 12th, 2010 

Carbohydrate-Count of Cabbage