Special Bonus Food Post: Portabella, Shallot, and Ham Sandwiches with a White Wine Reduction
...aka, "Way Too Much Trouble for a Ham Sandwich" :-) This is an original recipe.
Finely chop about 1/4 cup of shallots and two cloves of garlic, and sautee them in two tablespoons of butter until the shallots soften, about 3 minutes. Add 3 thickly sliced portabella mushroom caps and continue sauteeing until they are soft and dark colored, and have shrunken in size. It might take a little while, and you might need to add more butter. Once the mushrooms are done, add 1/2 cup dry white wine, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and 2 bay leaves. Start boiling down.
While you wait for the mushrooms and sauce to reduce, slide the top rack as far out of the oven as you can without actually removing it, set down a sheet a tinfoil over it, and set up two pieces of bread with a couple slices of sweet, thick cut, honey baked ham. Set up two bare pieces of bread next to them on the rack. Turn on the broiler and set it to 450 degrees, but don't slide the rack back in yet.
Now, just before the wine has boiled down to a thick sauce, use a spatula or slotted spoon to move the mushrooms to the bare pieces of bread. If cheese is your thing (and you have my profound sympathy if it isn't), add a slice of gruyere over the ham. Spoon the remainder of the wine mixture (which should now be a thick brown sauce) over the ham and the mushrooms. Slide the rack in and broil the sandwiches open-faced until the cheese is melted and the bread is starting to toast. Slide the rack out, close the sandwiches, and briefly broil until the outside is toasted. Slide the rack out, flip the sandwiches, and toast the other side too. Remove the sandwiches, open them up, and add a coarse stone ground mustard (I like Inglehoffer) and optionally some mayonnaise if you want to. Close them back up and serve with a crisp, hard apple cider, like Strongbow.
Serves 2
I didn't get any pictures of this one, unfortunately. They were very tasty, but sort of labor intensive. I didn't time it, but it prep was probably about half an hour, start to finish. I was thinking they'd be similar to a savory Croque Monsieur, but the flavor was actually quite different. Don't skip the mustard - it really adds quite a bit.
Finely chop about 1/4 cup of shallots and two cloves of garlic, and sautee them in two tablespoons of butter until the shallots soften, about 3 minutes. Add 3 thickly sliced portabella mushroom caps and continue sauteeing until they are soft and dark colored, and have shrunken in size. It might take a little while, and you might need to add more butter. Once the mushrooms are done, add 1/2 cup dry white wine, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and 2 bay leaves. Start boiling down.
While you wait for the mushrooms and sauce to reduce, slide the top rack as far out of the oven as you can without actually removing it, set down a sheet a tinfoil over it, and set up two pieces of bread with a couple slices of sweet, thick cut, honey baked ham. Set up two bare pieces of bread next to them on the rack. Turn on the broiler and set it to 450 degrees, but don't slide the rack back in yet.
Now, just before the wine has boiled down to a thick sauce, use a spatula or slotted spoon to move the mushrooms to the bare pieces of bread. If cheese is your thing (and you have my profound sympathy if it isn't), add a slice of gruyere over the ham. Spoon the remainder of the wine mixture (which should now be a thick brown sauce) over the ham and the mushrooms. Slide the rack in and broil the sandwiches open-faced until the cheese is melted and the bread is starting to toast. Slide the rack out, close the sandwiches, and briefly broil until the outside is toasted. Slide the rack out, flip the sandwiches, and toast the other side too. Remove the sandwiches, open them up, and add a coarse stone ground mustard (I like Inglehoffer) and optionally some mayonnaise if you want to. Close them back up and serve with a crisp, hard apple cider, like Strongbow.
Serves 2
I didn't get any pictures of this one, unfortunately. They were very tasty, but sort of labor intensive. I didn't time it, but it prep was probably about half an hour, start to finish. I was thinking they'd be similar to a savory Croque Monsieur, but the flavor was actually quite different. Don't skip the mustard - it really adds quite a bit.