Sunday, August 23, 2015

Croque Monsieur

There are a couple of sandwiches that remind me to bow down in the direction of the Earl of Sandwich every now and then! I have to thank him for coming up with the concept of stuffing some kind of filling between two slices of bread so he could continue his card game, uninterrupted.  Me? I just like love eating them!!!!  And if they are grilled - even better!!!  
-Grilled cheese  - American, Jarlsberg, Cheddar, cream cheese and olive...!  
-Ham and swiss, grilled and dripping with butter!  
-Lean pastrami and spicy brown mustard, hot off the grill!  
-A New York Reuben!
-Cubans! (the guys are pretty cute, too...) 
-Quesadillas! 
-Philly Cheese Steak!!! 
-A shrimp po' boy!  
-Lobster rolls with almost no mayo!
-Muffalettas!!!!  (Especially when they come from Central Grocery in NOLA!!)  

I'm making myself hungry - better stop!

This is one of those filling sandwiches that brings me back to late-night studying in the stacks at Bapst Library when I was in college, and then a stop at a little diner in Brighton on the way home for dinner....or was that breakfast....?

Croque Monsieur


makes 8 sandwiches - serves 4 or 8, depending on how starving that student is!

Ingredients:
1 T butter
3T flour
2 c hot milk
S/P
pinch nutmeg
12 oz Gruyere or Emmentaler, grated (You'll have more than a quart of grated cheese.  That's
                                                              OK! It's late.  Not counting calories, carbs or fat grams
                                                              on this one!)
1/2 c Parmesan
16 slices bread, crusts removed (Splurge and get a good loaf of bread from a baker for these)
Dijon mustard
8 oz. baked Virgina ham

Procedure:
preheat the oven to 400°

Melt the butter in a saucepan, whisk in the flour and let it bubble for a few seconds.  Whisk in the milk, pouring it in a steady stream while whisking.  Continue to cook and stir until the sauce begins to thicken.  Take the saucepan off the heat. Add the S/P and nutmeg. 1/2 c of the Gruyere and all of the Parmesan, and stir until the cheeses are melted.

Toast the bread in the over for 4-5 minutes on a flat baking sheet.  Turn and toast another 2 minutes.

Spread one side of half the toasts with mustard.  Add a slice of ham and divide half the remaining cheese among the eight slices with mustard and ham.  Top with the naked slices of bread.


Place the sandwiches in a baking pan (with sides) and slather on all that cheese sauce.  (Soak those babies!!)  Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.  

Bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes.  Then broil for 3-4 minutes to lightly brown the tops.  Don't leave any of that cheese sauce in the pan when you serve these babies. Scoop it ALL out and try to divide it equally among the eight sandwiches.  

Knife. Fork. Wine.  o.m.g.

Oh, Gruyere, how do I love thee?  
Let me count the ways!! 
I could easily live on these and die happy (probably in three or four days considering the fat content.) But I'd be a really happy corpse!



Note:  Add a poached egg on top of the sandwich and it's now called a 'croque madame'.


And this week's Recipe Detective Award goes to MEW in MD and bobbity212

1 comment:

  1. This was a "5" from the boss! Glad she agrees with choice on this sandwich - it really IS yummy!!

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