Have you ever tasted the quintessential French
sandwich, the Croque Monsieur?
My first time was at the Mon Ami Gabi in
Las Vegas and I was in love.
This rich ham and cheese sandwich covered in
a Mornay sauce is out of this world.
I was going to serve crepes for our
French inspired Bride's Maids' dinner
but remembered this sandwich and got
online to find a recipe. I had no idea I
could be lectured so much about a simple
sandwich- what cheese to use, what bread
to use, how to prepare it, etc.
I ended up choosing Ina Garten's recipe and
tweaked it a little as a crispy sandwich is desired
that can stand up to being smothered with
the Mornay sauce and then more cheese and broiled
so I decided to go the modern way and crisp
my sandwich up in a panini maker instead of
baking the bread and then the sandwich in
the oven. The results were great.
Croque Monsieur Recipe
(Adaptation of Ina Garten's recipe)
Makes 8 large sandwiches
Mornay Sauce
2 T. butter
3 T. flour
2 C. hot milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
dash nutmeg
1/2 C. grated gruyere cheese
1/2 C. fresh grated parmesan cheese
Sandwich Ingredients
1/2 lb. sliced Black Forest Ham
4 C. grated gruyere cheese
16 slices of thick sliced crusty bread
(I used sourdough loaves and cut them on
an angle to get larger sandwich slices.)
Dijon mustard
soft butter
Heat oven to Broil.
In a small saucepan place the 2 C. milk and heat
it until it is just bubbling around the edges. Meanwhile
melt the butter in another small sauce pan. Add the
flour and stir and heat for about 1 minute. Gradually
pour in the hot milk. If you make your sauce with
hot milk, it will thicken almost immediately.
Stir in the seasonings and the cheese and heat
gently until the cheese is melted. Set aside and
let cool until thickened.
Butter the outsides of your bread. Spread Dijon
mustard on one half of the sandwich. Top with a
generous amount of sliced ham and and a generous
amount of shredded cheese.
Put the two halves together and place in a panini
maker or use a griddle or frying pan and brown
until cheese is melted. I used a panini maker and
just set the cover down gently and it worked perfectly.
When the bread is well toasted and the cheese
is melted, remove and place on a baking pan that
has been sprayed with Pam. Spoon a generous
spoonful of the thickened Mornay sauce on top
of each sandwich and then top with additional
Gruyere and Parmesan.
Place the pan of sandwiches under the broiler
until the cheese bubbles and browns a bit.
I will be posting with
Foodie Friday
Some of the recipes said to remove the crusts
from the bread. I loved the crusty bread and
wouldn't dream of losing those wonderful
crusts.
The aroma of the sandwich broiling is just
amazing.
This is such an incredible flavor combination
and textural combination. We had leftovers
again tonight!
Pommes Frites
Seasoned with Rosemary
Seasoned with Rosemary
frozen shoestring potatoes
Season All salt
crushed dried rosemary
vegetable oil
Heat the vegetable oil to 375 degrees. I like to
use a deep fat fryer or an electric fondue pot. Place
one frozen potato in to make sure that
it is ready - it should bubble rapidly.
Carefully place two handfuls of frozen potatoes
in the oil. Stand back as the oil may spit from
any ice crystals on the potatoes. Cool until golden - a few
minutes. Don't overload the fryer as they will take
too long to cook and be soggy. We like to use the
shoestring as they crisp up better than thicker
fries.
When crispy and golden, remove from the oil
with a slotted spoon and immediately season
with the Season All and rosemary.
Serve creatively in a parchment paper cone in
a metal cone holder. You can buy these at many
stores now. I purchased these at Sur la Table
but I have also purchased some at Home Goods.
Foodie Friday
