I can rarely hit up a French bistro without ordering a Croque Monsieur (or its egg-topped spouse, the Croque Madame), no matter how fabulous the rest of the menu sounds. Do you guys know about Croque Monsieurs? They are like a grilled ham and cheese sandwich on crack: toasty white bread, spicy Dijon mustard, salty-thin slices of ham smothered in a rich cheesy bechamel sauce and broiled until brown and bubbly. Throw a fried egg with a runny yolk on top and you’re in serious business — this is a next-level, fork-and-knife, dinner-worthy sandwich.
There’s better news: you can make these puppies at home pretty easily, which means that at some point maybe I can order something else next time I’m at my local bistro (which is now officially the newly opened and long-anticipated Ici Bistro on Harbord [Ed. Note: They’re on Manning Ave. now], serving up classic French bistro fare with a modern twist. Do not miss out on the steak tartare or the souffle — there are no ham and cheese sandwiches on this menu and I didn’t care at all).
The following recipe is adapted slightly from Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris. I like her tip of cutting off the crusts for a slightly more adorable sandwich, but mostly because it justifies serving two sandwiches per person. Toasting the bread in advance will help the sandwich from tasting soggy once you add the sauce. Don’t be scared off by the bechamel sauce; it’s amazingly easy to master, and you can do all kinds of things (mac and cheese, lasagna, etc.) once you can make a proper bechamel.
The key is to be watch the roux (the butter and flour mixture) as you cook it — when first combined, it will be creamy, but then turn more granular in appearance and the flour will absorb the butter. At this point, add your milk and make sure it’s hot. Leftover bechamel can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days, covered in plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, but you may need to loosen it up with more milk when reheating. Serve with a green salad, and if you want to kick things up, throw a fried sunny-side egg on top.
Croque Monsieurs
adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris
Serves 4 as a main, or 8 as an appetizer
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
2.5 cups grated sharp cheddar
2.5 cups grated gruyere
Dijon mustard
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
24 thin slices of Virginia or Black Forest Ham
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Toast bread on a baking sheet for about 5 minutes and set aside.
2. In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt butter on medium heat, then add flour and whisk vigourously to form a roux. Stir constantly for a few minutes until the roux begins to absorb the butter and take on a more granular appearance (avoid letting it brown).
3. Add the hot milk, whisking in gradually to avoid lumps. Heat and stir until sauce thickens, then stir in salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat and stir in half the cheese.
4. To assemble sandwiches, spread Dijon mustard on one half of sandwich, then top with 3 slices of ham, a bit of grated cheese and a dollop of the bechamel sauce. Place other slice of bread on top, then spread with more bechamel and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake sandwiches in oven for about 5 minutes, then broil for 2 minutes to get the tops bubbly (watch carefully so as not to burn!). Serve hot.
Sara Chan is a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer, food enthusiast, unprofessional home chef and even less professional food photographer. Her favourite food group is pork. Sara’s column appears every other Tuesday here on lawandstyle.ca.