Category Archives: The Secret Recipe Club

Croque Monsieur

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Croque MonsieurCroque Monsieur, basically a fancy ham and cheese. Really fancy, and really delicious! Also, this month’s Secret Recipe Club pick. Did I ever enjoy myself looking through my assigned site, Authentic Suburban Gourmet, what a perfect name for this blog, as everything looks gourmet indeed! I had many options to pick from, ranging from Ice Cream to Savory Bread Pudding,(all pinned for later), but I eventually decided on the Croque Monsieur, because it is something I have always wanted to try. It is a pretty quick meal to put together, served with a side salad. Elegant, quick, tasty, put those three qualities together and you have a great meal. I know this is one I will be making the family again and again.

  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • dash of salt and pepper
  • 2 cups shredded Emmental cheese ( I used Swiss)
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 8 slices nice white bread
  • 8 slices deli sliced black forest ham
  • Dijon mustard

1. Melt butter in small saucepan. Add flour and whisk for about two minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and stir until sauce has thickened. Stir in salt, pepper and nutmeg. remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup of the Swiss cheese. Set aside while you get the bread ready.

2. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread on cookie sheet and toast both sides. Spread 4 slices of bread with Dijon Mustard ,top with 2 slices of ham each, top with remaining Swiss cheese. Top with second 1/2 of bread slices to make 4 sandwiches. Top with the Mornay Sauce that you made. Return to oven. Bake for 5 minutes. Broil for 3 minutes.

3. Eat and enjoy!


Easy Baked Taco Shells

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Easy baked Taco ShellsToday you guys all get an extra post! Over in Group D of The Secret Recipe Club they had some orphans. What is an orphan you ask? Well, who ever got this lovely blog, The Saucy Gourmet, was unable to post today. So I headed on over to see what I could make on a short time schedule and lo and behold I found this recipe for Easy Baked Taco Shells! We already had Tacos on the menu tonight, so a slight shift in the menu and Taco Salad is served! This is a fun way to serve your Tacos and a nice change from the usual store-bought Taco shells. I will definitely be making these again. It would even be fun to fill it with a Mexican themed soup, such as Chicken Tortilla, or even chili topped with cheese. So many possibilities! So here you go on to the recipe!

  • flour tortilla
  • aluminum foil
  • warm water
  • 1/4 tsp olive oil

1. Place warm water (just a small amount, about 1/8 cup) in pie plate, mix with olive oil. Place tortilla in and flip to get both sides wet.

2. Take an empty food can and cover with aluminum foil. Drape tortilla over food can, and bake for 5 minutes, at 450 degrees. Repeat depending on how many shell bowls you would like.

3. Fill with your favorite taco fillings, we used lettuce, tomato, cucumber taco meat, cheese, salsa, sour cream and of course jalapeños!

4. Eat and enjoy!

Check out all of the other group D picks here:



Carrot Tea Cake

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Carrot Tea CakeWow, does it ever seem a long time since The Secret Recipe Club last made an appearance on the blog. We took of the month of December, so it has been two whole months! It is glad to be back that is for sure, and this time around I was assigned a dessert lovers dream blog. There is a few savory recipes on Life’s Simple Measures, sure but the majority is filled to the brim with delicious baking. So yes, this was a very hard month to choose a recipe to make, because as we all know baking is my weakness. Well, weakness is probably the wrong word, because I am in fact very disciplined in my eating, so instead of weakness let’s go with love, yes I love my baked goods! Cakes, cookies, pies, bars, cupcakes, scones this blog was just filled with choices. I finally decided on the Carrot Tea Cake, baked in a loaf pan it is the perfect size for my little family of five. The cream cheese icing on it was divine, possibly my favorite cream cheese icing to date. This is a recipe I will be coming back to many times in the future, so thanks for the great addition to my collection!

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 c. dark brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 c. packed grated carrots (about 2 carrots)
  • 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 c. powdered sugar
1. Cream together the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add eggs and 1 tsp of the vanilla. Beat in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in carrots. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
2. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool.
3. To make frosting beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and remaining vanilla. Spread on cooled cake.
4. Slice, and serve.
5. Eat and enjoy!



Secret Recipe Club

Macaroon Madness Bars

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Macaroon Madness BarsTime for another round of…..The Secret Recipe Club. Yes that is right, the secret santa of recipes with the added bonus that it happens every month, no waiting for Christmas. Actually funny thing we are taking December the month of Christmas off, so it’s like Secret Santa for every month except Christmas. This month my assignment was the lovely blog A Tale of One Foodie’s Culinary Adventures. I as usual read every blog post on the site. Tonnes of delicious recipes. Usually I think about it for about a week before I decide what to make. Not this month, as soon as I saw the recipe for Macaroon Madness Bars I knew that is what I would be making. They got rave reviews, just like I knew they would, plus I froze half of the recipe for Christmas!

  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup salted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 can sweetened, condensed milk (14 oz)
  • 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
  • 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
  • Caramel syrup (I used store-bought)
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Beat together butter, flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Press into a 13×9 inch pan that has been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray.

2. Combine melted butter, brown sugar,sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in medium-sized saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs. Stir in coconut and oatmeal. Pour over crust. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

3. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

4. Cover with caramel syrup, refrigerate another 15 minutes.

5. Melt white chocolate and place in sandwich bag. Snip of a tip of one corner. Drizzle over bars. Repeat with semi-sweet chocolate drizzling in opposite direction. Refrigerate 15 minutes.

6. Slice into bars and serve.

7. Eat and enjoy!

check out what everyone else made below!