Croque Monsieur s’il vous plaise

The name alone, Croque Monsieur, just sounds decadent. Honestly. More fun to say than ham and cheese sandwich. Calling it ham and cheese doesn’t do it justice.

It is more than just a fancy ham and cheese sandwich. It’s toasted buttery bread with sandwiching layers of melting cheese and ham that is lastly topped with a creamy béchamel sauce and more melted cheese. See… the name fits.

Croque monsieur s’il vous plaise!

Croque Monsieur

A friend of mine just recently had a birthday to celebrate. What did she ask from me? Honey lavender ice cream (see previous post). Well, I obliged, but took it a few steps further. I decided that I would cook dinner for her and some friends.

So, there is this movie with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin called “It’s Complicated”. If you’ve seen it, then you know the part I’m about to mention. Yeah, that scene where Meryl’s character is preparing a dinner for a guest… Croque monsieur. I was watching this movie with my previous mentioned birthday friend, and at that part she said, “Oooo. That looks good! Can you make that?” I just laughed because that isn’t an unfamiliar question I’m asked when food is in a movie or on TV (this is where I got the idea for what to make for dinner).

I got to “work” on the dinner most of the day. Why? Well. It was on a Saturday and I went to the famers market and decided to make a day of it. Got up “early”… well, I should’ve woken up earlier b/c I would have been able to get everything at the market… I slept till 8 so by the time I got downtown… you know how the story goes.  

Note to self: get up earlier than usual to go to the farmers market so not to have slim pickings. Farmers markets are THE place to be on Saturday mornings. 

I did get some great cherry tomatoes (made some bruschetta as an app) and lettuce (for a simple salad) from one vendor, and then got some challah bread for the croques and French baguette for the bruschetta app. Lastly got the eggs and honey. Just had to pop over to the store and get the ham and other dairy.

When I got back to the house from my Saturday morning food adventure, I got right to work on all the food prep… got the ice cream mix started right away so it could chill, then moved on to quartering up the cherry tomatoes and tossing them in some olive oil, basil, garlic and salt and pepper. Grating cheese for the croques. The kitchen was coming to life as the smells were swirling around.

Getting everything together and ready went by swiftly, and the guest started to arrive. I pulled out the ice cream from earlier and put it in my trusty ice cream maker (love my kitchen aide ice cream maker).

As the guest snacked on the bruchetta and chatted, I was able to get the croques started. Sliced the challah bread and spread them on a sheet pan. Slipped the bread into the oven under the broiler to toast. As the bread was toasting away, I started on the béchamel sauce. The smell of butter was now taking over the kitchen. My dance began.

The following paragraph is insight of my train of thought during the whole process…

Ok, slice the bread. Get it even. Under the broiler. OK. Start sauce. Butter into the pot… melt, add flour. Stir. Stir. Stir. The bread is turning golden brown, time to flip. I need both hands for this. Back to the sauce… keep stirring. Add warmed milk, keep stirring. (Was I just asked a question? “Hmm? What was that? Oh no. I got it. Not too much longer.”) What was I doing? Oh, right, the sauce… still stirring. The bread. Bread is ready to pull out of the oven. Back to sauce, add cheese and stir (oh man this smells amazing); remove from heat; add salt and pepper and taste (This is going to be sooo good). Set aside… Focus on nothing but assembly: Spread Dijon mustard on bread slices, top half of bread slices with ham, then add cheese, pour béchamel sauce over cheese, top with other bread slice (Dijon side down), pour more béchamel sauce, top with more cheese, back under broiler to melt. Remove from oven… Dinner is ready! (I didn’t make as big of a mess as I thought I would. What’s that humming?) Oh the ice cream. Put in a container and put in freezer. Now time to eat.

Like I said. It was a dance. The kitchen smelled of butter and cheese. I was so focused on “my partner” (the oven and cook-top) I didn’t notice that everybody was glancing their eyes into the kitchen watching my dance.   

Mmmm... Croques under the broiler

The most rewarding part of the whole day was the silence I heard when dinner was being consumed.

My favorite moment is that silence when the first bites are taken.

The only noise was the faint background music and the knives on the plates cutting the Croques in half. After the first few bites were down did any talking start back up again.  I served up the ice cream after everybody became members of the clean plate club. Chattering was to a minimum again as they ate their Lavender and honey ice cream. 

The dinner was a hit and the food was well received.... There weren't any leftovers. This is a crowd pleaser. The simple side salad paired nicely with the Croques. Served the salad with different choices of vinaigrettes and the leftover quaraterings of cherry tomatoes. I highly recommend this to anybody. The ingredients are easy to come by and cheap. 

Another great thing about this recipe for Croques is that they can be altered by one ingredient and the name changes... Croques Madames. All you have to add is an egg. The egg is either fried or poached. Whatever your fancy, it will be a hit. Happy eating/cooking/baking!!!

The Fried egg for the Madame

The Monsieur and the Madame

Cutting into the Madame