Alex's Kitchen. Алекс Рэй

course, it is French! This kind of sandwich is very popular in France, especially Paris. It was invented some more than a hundred years ago.

      Why does it have such a strange name? Some people say that one jester innkeeper joked in such a way about himself as if he was cannibal. Other story tells about French word with meaning ‘to crunch’ and monsieur as a French man… OK, we won’t look for the roots – we will do our croquet monsieur!

      For making croque monsieur you need:

      TOAST BREAD

      2 pieces

      CHEESE

      (GRUYERE DESIRABLE)

      2 slices

      HAM

      1 slice

      OIL FOR FRYING

      1 tsp

      When you got all of this, you should:

      put one slice of cheese on one piece of bread

      put slice of ham on cheese

      put the second slice of cheese

      cover it with the second slice of bread

      pour oil into a frying-pan and heat it

      NOTICE: be attentive when stand near hot frying-pan with heated oil!

      put sandwich into frying-pan and fry for three minutes

      NOTICE: watch bread not to burn

      turn over croquet monsieur and fry it for more three minutes, then put on a dish

      NOTICE: When you add to your croque monsieur fried egg, you get croque madam!

      Bon appetite!

      TARTLET

      Tartlet is a kind of sandwich with no bread – there is a little baked basket instead of it. They are made of short dough – word ‘tartlet’ came from French ‘tartelette’ – small pastry. Nowadays they are much more closer to sandwiches than to cakes, although European cookery uses to fill tartlets with sweet fillings.

      Tartlets are both nice and simple as they are ready-to-use: you can buy set of them in any grocery. Let’s try to surprise your parents, making tartlets in Slavic style!

      For making tartlets with chicken and mushrooms, you need:

      SET OF TARTLETS

      10 or 12 usually

      CHICKEN MEAT

      500 g

      FIELD MUSHROOMS

      300 g

      EGGS

      3 pieces

      ONION

      1 piece

      MAYONNAISE

      2 tbsp

      OIL

      1½ tbsp

      GREEN DILL

      2 springs

      When everything is ready, you should:

      pour 1 liter of water with 1 tsp of salt into a pot

      when seethed, put chicken into pot, boil for twenty minutes and then take it from pot and put on a plate

      put eggs into another pot, pour 1 liter of water, let them seethe for eight minutes and then put them in a cold water

      cut onion finely and mushrooms into cubes of 0.5 centimeter

      pour oil into frying-pan and heat it

      NOTICE: be careful both with knife and with hot oil!

      fry mushrooms with onion for 5 minutes stirring every minute

      NOTICE: Mushrooms are blushed and onion becomes transparently yellowish when ready

      cut chicken and eggs into cubes of 0.5 centimeter

      put chicken, eggs and mushrooms with onion into a plate

      add mayonnaise and mix thoroughly

      fill tartlets with mixing of chicken, eggs, mushrooms and onion

      tear dill springs and strew tartlets

      NOTICE: tartlets are delicate so you should serve them in 10-15 minutes

      Bon appetite!

      HAMBURGER

      Hamburger is a high-class of sandwich cookery. It means that we cook it if we have already cooked all other collations of this chapter. I can explain such a severe tone: sandwiches, canapés, etc. are made of READY-TO-USE ingredients whereas hamburger needs TWO steps: first, making burger for it, and second, building the hamburger.

      Those who make word ‘hamburger’ of burger and ham are mistaken. This meal came from German immigrants to America. Hamburg is one of the biggest cities of Germany, so people who lived there were called hamburgers. One of them opened it luncheonette serving meat cutlets in rolls. Soon ‘White Castle’ canteen began to sell hamburgers that became its trademark.

      Today you can taste hamburgers of McDonald’s, KFC’s and many other fast food restaurants. Doctors consider this meal unhealthy, but it is one of the most popular dishes all over the world. Don’t you mind if we cook classic hamburgers for your family?

      For making ‘family’ hamburgers you need:

      BREAD ROLLS

      3 pieces

      MINCED MEAT

      400 g

      TOMATO

      1 piece

      PICKLED CUCUMBER

      1 piece

      VIOLET