Parisien Monday

I can't believe how cold it got last night!! The low was in the teens here, which is not a temperature that I am fond of or used to dealing with. I preferably would not have left my house at all yesterday, but I managed to tolerate a freezing sprint to the gym after work. After working out and picking up the pups, I sprinted right back into my house, immediately took a steaming hot shower and put on my hot pink leopard print flannel pajamas. Fierce I know.

Clearly I decided to make soup last night to warm up my insides, and inspired by our recent french meal in Savannah, I went with Roasted Zucchini Soup and complimented the soup with Ham/Turkey, Brie and Apple open face sandwiches. Ohhhhh boy, was it fantastic.



Zucchini Soup
Please, don't be afraid of green soup. Roasting the zucchini first gave it even more of an army green shade due to the browned edges on the zucchini and onions, which I know doesn't look as appetizing as I would have liked, but just accept it. It has such amazing flavor and it is so good for you!

Begin by chopping off the ends and slicing the zucchini lengthwise. Slice an onion in half and then into thin slivers. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast at 400 for 25 minutes.


Remove from the oven hen the zucchini is tender and the edges start to brown.


Add the zucchini and onions, whole, to a soup pot over medium heat, and pour in enough chicken stock to just cover the vegetables.


Don't add too much, because you don't want it to be too thin. You can always go back and add more later.


Using an immersion blender, or transferring to a blender in batches, puree the vegetables in the pot until you reach a desired smooth consistency. Let simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper and a tsp of thyme. After simmering, when you're ready to serve, stir in 1/4 cup of heavy cream or milk to round out the flavor.


Now let's work on those scrumptious "Le Parisiens." I bought some honey baked ham and smoked turkey from Heavenly Ham in anticipation of making these this week. You could, of course, use the cheaper deli-meat version from your local grocer, but if you really want to do these justice and truly appreciate the heavenly-ness, splurge on some good meat. It doesn't take as much if you get the good stuff.


Begin by pre-toasting some thickly sliced ciabatta bread in the toaster oven. Then spread on a tablespoon or two of good honeymustard. I combined 1 tablespoon dijon mustard with a tablespoon of honey and 2 teaspoons of light mayonnaise for a light and sweet honey mustard. Neatly stack your meats on each piece of bread.


Cut long strips or wedges out of a brie round and layer one on each sandwich. Then place the sheet of sandwiches back in the toaster oven and toast for 3-4 minutes to melt the cheese.


Then using a mandoline, or if you don't have a mandoline use a knife, to slice paper thin slices of apple. I recommend halving and coring the apple first and then slicing each half. Once you have a big pile of thinly sliced apples, gently fold them in half and layer them neatly on top of the melted cheese.


I'm so in heaven right now, and I was extra smart and made one ham and one turkey for each of us, so we ate half of each one last night and had half of each left over for lunch today. Genius! It took a lot of willpower to leave those halves untouched, let me tell you.