Feeding the Masses: Croque Monsieurs!

One of the responsibilities I have at the 3-star restaurant I cook at is to help make our staff lunch and dinners. We work from 8AM to 11PM with a two hour break in the middle and we are fed two meals a day to keep us going.

This last week our dinners have been revolting (from a preparation and eating standpoint) with French delicacies of Tete de Veau (head of veal) and Tongue, but last night was yummy. We made Croque Monsieurs for the whole staff and they were gobbled up faster than...well faster than the head cheese...

What is a Croque Monsieur? It is simply a ham and guyere cheese sandwich with a little béchamel sauce spread inbetween and on top for added creaminess. I know that many people are frightened by the idea of making béchamel because it is one of the quintessential French white mother sauces, but it's easy and takes minutes. And you can make it the day before and refrigerate it.

Once you make a roux (flour and butter mixture that thickens the sauce) add milk a little salt, pepper and nutmeg et Voila! C'est facile, non? For recipe click on "Continue reading Food for the Masses" at the bottom of the post.

The origin of the name Croque Monsieur, is uncertain but the first part derives from the verb croquer (to crunch or to munch). Its first recorded appearance on a Parisian café menu was in 1910. It originated in France as a fast-food snack served in cafés. If you top it with a fried egg the dish is known as a croque madame.

Bon Appetit!!!

Technorati Tags: bechamel, béchamel, croque monsieur, recipes, sandwich, white sauce

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients
Loaf of Pain de Mie or thick white bread sliced
Sliced ham
Gruyere shredded cheese

Bechamel Sauce:
2 Tablespoons / 30 g unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons / 30 g all-purpose flour
1 cup / 250ml milk
Freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Bay Leaf

Instructions
1. Make Béchamel sauce by melting butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour once the butter is foamy and cook until just golden stirring occasionally. The starch in the flour needs to cook but not overcook so be careful not to burn it.
2. Pour in half the milk and stir vigorously until smooth, then add remaining milk. Add bay leaf and season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. Reduce heat to low and cook gently for another 5 minutes.
3. Spread a layer of béchamel sauce on thick white bread and top with a sprinkle of gruyere. Add 1- 2 ham slices and cover with a sprinkle of gruyere and another layer of bread.
4. On top of sandwich spread another layer of béchamel and more cheese. Bake in a hot oven (400˚F / 200˚ C) for 3 minutes until cheese is melted.
5. For a variation try a Croque Madame with a fried egg on top of the sandwich.

Comments

[Sam]

I'm so happy to finally know how to make this sandwhich. I ate one in cafe last December and it was one of those divine moments from my trip that I remember vividly.

[negrito]

three star croque monsieur, this is a real concept :)

[Sean]

Too funny -- I had a croque just yesterday, at Le Zinc in Noe Valley just a couple blocks from my house. The croque was serviceably good but the service was completely not. Feh!

[misschrisc]

What a beautiful croque! My mother in law gave me a little tip about beating an egg into the béchamel. It becomes really creamy and tastes wonderful, but maybe then it's a whole new sauce with the egg added in.

[jeorg]

a personal favorite of mine. for thomas, it is most definitely the madame version of this sandwhich.

[melinda]

Oh hell, now i feel hungry! LOL

[ParisBreakfasts]

Oh that looks unbearably YUMMY! I was just thinking of trying to paint a C.M. I took a picture of in Paris...took a picture of only..didn't dare eat with all the other stuff I was wolfing down..next time I'll give into temptation OUI

[Ms Glaze]

They are super addictive! If you whisk an egg yolk into the bechamel sauce (at a warm temperature –not too hot or the egg will scramble) then you have a what's called a Mornay sauce which is super delicious and very decadent.

[mindy]

Yummy! I just found your blog today and love it, but the funny thing is yesterday I was searching for CM recipes. I can't wait to find time to read all your posts!

[Arkiebubba]

A few years ago while visiting friends in Biloxi, Mississippi, we had lunch at a little French bistro called Pain d'Amour. The chef, a gregarious young man with a heavy Hungarian accent, made a Croque Monsieur a little differntly. Instead of baking it, he dipped the sandwich in an egg-milk mixture and cooked it on both sides in a skillet, rather like French Toast, then spread bechamel and grated gruyere on top. He slid the skillet under the broiler just long enough to melt the cheese. It was different, but delicious. Have you encountered this way of making a CM? I've got a feeling he just made it up. Oh, I shouldn't forget that he had worked as an under chef in a Paris restaurant for two or three years. The restaurant was unfortunately destroyed in the Katrina hurricane and not rebuilt nor reopened.

[Ms. Glaze]

Arkiebubba – That's interesting, I have never seen a CM in France made that way. It sounds a little more like a Monte Crisco sandwich. Those are normally ham sandwiches battered in egg and then cooked like French toast and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Sounds like he was combining a little bit of both?!?!

[Jeremy]

Word up Amy! I had one of these puppies at Daniel Bouluds Bar Boulud, lordy it's a lactose intolerant nightmare, but was worth the extra calories!

Keep feeding them, they shall come!

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