Guide to Making a Croque Monsieur
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Let's take a look at how to make the croque-monsieur, a classic French version of grilled cheese that has long since made its way to the US and elsewhere.
You'll need: - Gruyere cheese (half cup, grated) - bechamel sauce (half cup) - a few slices of ham - two slices of white bread - unsalted butter, softened (1 tablespoon) - mustard (dijon, 2 teaspoons) Start by gathering your ingredients together and preheating your oven to the broil setting. First you're going to cut the crusts off the bread and get them as square as you can. Now spread both bread slices liberally with your butter. Flip both pieces of bread over and spread your mustard over both pieces on that side. Get a bowl and combine half your bechamel sauce with your grated cheese. Mix so that the cheese becomes completely coated with sauce. Now split this cheese/sauce mixture into two. Take one-half and spread this over one of your bread slices (mustard side, which should be the side that is up). Put your ham slices on the other slice of bread, mustard side. Put the slices of bread together to form the sandwich. |
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Get a nonstick pan and spray a little cooking spray onto it. Put the pan on medium heat and heat to the point that the oil starts glistening but not smoking. Once that happens, add your sandwich to the pan. Cook for around two minutes or until the bottom browns nicely.
Flip your croque-monsieur over and lower the heat of your stovetop a bit. This time, cover the pan and again cook for about two minutes or until the other side/bottom of the sandwich is golden brown and until you've completely melted the cheese.
Remove the sandwich and put on a cutting board. Spread the rest of the cheese mixture onto the top, then top with the rest of the bechamel sauce.
Now on to the final baking step: put the sandwich on a baking pan and place pan in the oven (which has by now full pre-heated on the broil setting). You're going to broil the sandwich with the bechamel/cheese topped side still up. Expect to broil it just a minute or two until the mixture on top is nicely browned, as always.
There are a lot of things you can do to vary this recipe. First of all, you can use the following cheeses to combine with the Gruyere or instead of the Gruyere: Fontina, Muenster, Comte, Gouda. You can also use turkey breast or chicken breast instead of ham, if you prefer. Use sourdough bread instead of white bread, or the bread of your choosing. If you use sourdough or a similar kind of bread, keep the crust on.
To further match the Parisian style, add some French fries or salad greens. You can even put a fried egg on top of your finished sandwich to make a croque madame.
We recommend not ever baking with glassware of any kind, since it has a tendency to break or shatter.
Flip your croque-monsieur over and lower the heat of your stovetop a bit. This time, cover the pan and again cook for about two minutes or until the other side/bottom of the sandwich is golden brown and until you've completely melted the cheese.
Remove the sandwich and put on a cutting board. Spread the rest of the cheese mixture onto the top, then top with the rest of the bechamel sauce.
Now on to the final baking step: put the sandwich on a baking pan and place pan in the oven (which has by now full pre-heated on the broil setting). You're going to broil the sandwich with the bechamel/cheese topped side still up. Expect to broil it just a minute or two until the mixture on top is nicely browned, as always.
There are a lot of things you can do to vary this recipe. First of all, you can use the following cheeses to combine with the Gruyere or instead of the Gruyere: Fontina, Muenster, Comte, Gouda. You can also use turkey breast or chicken breast instead of ham, if you prefer. Use sourdough bread instead of white bread, or the bread of your choosing. If you use sourdough or a similar kind of bread, keep the crust on.
To further match the Parisian style, add some French fries or salad greens. You can even put a fried egg on top of your finished sandwich to make a croque madame.
We recommend not ever baking with glassware of any kind, since it has a tendency to break or shatter.