Bonjour!
One of my favourite dishes when we went to Paris last year was a type of sandwich called Croque-Monsieur. I had never seen it before and at first I thought it might be too much cheese for me, but when I tried it I was shocked I’d never discovered it before and I absolutely loved it. I loved it so much I ordered it nearly every time I saw it on the menu!
We haven’t had a lot of time today to recreate a masterpiece so we chose something simple which was Croque-Monsier and another type of sandwich called a Monte Cristo. It was lots of fun to make them and they were delicious. Probably my favourite thing so far. (Monte Cristo is an island in between France and Italy).
We never actually took a picture of this sandwich while we were on our trip, but here’s a picture that Ros took and that reminded us we’ve been going to make this for months!
Arrivederci!
God bless,
Taryn
1. CROQUE-MONSIEUR
Bread
Butter
Ham
Cheese – any type but a good strong flavour is best, sliced and grated
Béchamel (White sauce)
We’re not providing exact quantities since you may want to feed one person or 6 and other than the béchamel – making these is very straight forward.
First make some béchamel, and make it a bit thicker than you usually might. I used about 1 tablespoon of butter, about the same amount of plain flour and about 1 cup of milk. We also added a pinch each of salt, pepper, nutmeg and mustard.
Bottom layer – bread (unbuttered) then ham and cheese. Toast only the bottom side in a nice hot buttery pan.
Spread a heaped desert spoon of béchamel on the top slice of bread and cover with grated cheese. Pop the top slice on the base then transfer to a hot grill to toast till golden brown. YUMMMMMM!
2. MONTE CRISTO
Bread
Ham
Cheese
Mayonnaise
Egg
Milk
Paprika
Salt & pepper
Use 3 slices of bread for each sandwich as it helps them hold together better when they are cooked.
Place cheese and then ham on the bottom slice. Spread a little mayo on one side of the centre slice of bread and put it mayo side down on the ham. Then spread a little mayo on the top of the same slice and then the ham and cheese. Using the mayo helps the ham to stick and not slide away.
Make sure the crusts are lined up and then trim them off.
I hate wasting these but it again helps the sandwich hold together. Once the crusts are removed – PRESS DOWN on the sandwich till about half its previous height. This all helps it not slide apart in the cooking.
Mix 2 eggs to about 1 1/2 cups of milk and season.
Heat the pan with a generous amount of butter, dip the sandwich into the egg mix and fry.
If you are trying to lose weight or stay away from carbs, this is not the meal for you. But I kinda think you won’t be sorry! None of us could decide which version we preferred. I think for speed, the croque-monsieur was less of a fiddle, but both were worth it!
You could use up the crusts (which will also have slivers of ham and cheese) by making them into a savoury version of an bread & butter pudding. 🙂
3. CROQUE-MADAME*
We did not actually make these BUT there is another variation which just involves the addition of a fried or poached egg on the top. This is thought to look like a woman’s hat – hence its female name.