Алекс Рэй - Alex's Kitchen

pour out pickle from can with green olives and put them on a plate

lay lettuce on a dish

take one stick and pin down one green olive, a slice of paprika and a cube of cottage cheese

set canapés on lettuce in a dish (cottage cheese should be below)

NOTICE: for more attractive serving you may take a half of green and a half of red paprika, or a half of green olives and a half of olives – all in all you may experiment with your canapés as much as you want!

Bon appetite!

CROQUE MONSIEUR

Of 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 ONION