About the Recipe
I bloody love a good Cheese toastie and if you've met me at one of the farmers markets im pretty sure I would of recommended the smoked onion marmalade to be eaten this way.
Mushrooms seem to be having a moment, ive always loved mushrooms they're super tasty with a great texture and a perfect addition to this Gourmet toastie. Since starting cheffing Nutmeg has always been a friend of mushrooms complementing there earthy tones but be warned go easy with the nutmeg otherwise you'll end up with a soapy tasting disaster, pinch lightly and check between additions to suit your tastes.
The smoked onion marmalade goes really well with the mushrooms enhancing their earthy tones with a bit of sweetness and with the help of the creamy béchamel to bring it back from being too intense.
In this recipe were also making a béchamel one of the mother sauces of French cuisine which are as follows
Hollandaise - butter sauce thickened with egg yolks and the addition of a flavoured vinegar.
Tomato - slowly reduced tomato sauce often with mirepoix, similar to a pasta sauce.
Bechamel - dairy based sauce thickened with a roux ( butter and flour).
Espagnole - Dark stock thickened with a roux with additions such as herbs or red wine, think gravy.
Veloute - White stock such as fish or chicken thickened with a roux think parsley sauce or white wine sauce.
I love béchamel and a home made one sure as heck beats the crap you can buy in the supermarkets. ill be using the method that I was taught as an apprentice and the one I still use today, once mastered you can use it on so many things, cauliflower cheese, lasagne, croque madam and Croquettes (but that's a different recipe, that's coming soon)
To toast our toasties were going to use a pan but if you'd like to use a sandwich press youre more than welcome, still butter the outsides and just make sure to let the top plate only just touch the top slice of bread. too much weight and you'll end up with more filling outside the bread and that would be a very sad day indeed.
Have fun, don't take it too seriously and make sure it tastes good for you, if you don't like parmesan use cheddar instead, don't like pepper? leave it out! Food's meant to be enjoyed so tweak the recipes to suit you, its not written in stone and if you have any questions feel free to contact us i'm more than happy to help.
Happy cooking
Dom
Owner & Chef
Ingredients
1 loaf ciabatta sliced into 8 slices on a slight angle 1-2cm thick
500g swiss brown mushrooms. 250g quartered 250g sliced
2 Handfuls baby spinach
2 clove garlic micro planed or finely chopped
1 brown onion
4 cloves
2 bay leaf
500ml milk
50g plainflour
50g butter plus extra for spreading
genourous pinch of nutmeg, freshly grated if possible
Olive oil to fry mushrooms
100g parmesan grated
100g mozzerella grated
The Mulberry Pig Smoked onion Marmalade
Preparation
Step 1
In a sauce pan put the milk, peel the onion and with the 2 bayleaves skewer them to the onion with the cloves, bring milk up to a light steam then take off the heat and leave to one side (pic 1).
Step 2
In a large fry pan heat a good splash of olive oil, add the quatered mushrooms and season well, cook until golden (pic 2), add the sliced mushrooms and cook until browned aswell (pic 4), you may need to add a little bit more oil if the pan is quite dry. Once all the mushrooms are brown add the garlic and baby spinach and saute until wilted (pic 5), tip into a sieve and leave over a measuring jug to capture any juices.
Step 3
In a clean sauce pan add the butter and melt over a low to medium heat, once melted add the flour and stir until it becomes sandy in colour and texture (pic 6) do not stop stiring as it may burn. (This is whats known as a roux)
Step 4
With the onion removed from the milk add and mushroom juices and slowly pour around 100mls into the roux mix and stir until smooth (pic 7), once smooth repeat until all the milk is added (pic 8), keep cooking until velvety (pic 9), turn the heat down to low and let the flour cook out for around 5 mins.
Step 5
While the bechamel cooks, grate your parmesan and mozzerella but keep seperate, slice your bread and butter the opposite sides of 2 slices until you have 8 slices in total., now the bechamel should be cooked out just have a taste and check for if it taste like raw flour, if its all good add the parmesan and the pinch of nutmeg stir until melted then give it a taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Step 6
On the bottom pieces of bread with butter facing down to the chopping board, spoon a large tbsp of bechamel onto the bread and spread if it looks like its too little add a touch more but try not to over fill as it becomes hard to eat.
Step 7
Next spoon the mushrooms between the 4 slices and top with the mozzerella, then on the top piece of bread, spread a decent amount of Smoked onion marmalade then place on top with the buttered side facing the roof.
Step 8
Place into a large skillet on medium heat(pic 10), place a weight on top to make sure all surface area touches the pan (pic 11), cook for 5 mins then check, once golden brown carfully flip the toasties over with a fish slice and repeat, remove from the pan slice in half if desired and ENJOY!
