Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale and on this episode of Laura in the Kitchen I want to share with
you one of my favorite, what I call fancy sandwiches. It is something that I make once
in a while for my husband and I. It is a real treat, but I love getting this every time
we go to a French cafe or a French bistro. It is a Croque Monsieur! It is really a French
ham and cheese sandwich. Not to be confused with a Monte Cristo, that is a different kind
of sandwich. I often hear people confuse the two. This is a Croque Monsieur and in a different
video I will show you how to make a Monte Cristo. But the ingredients you will need
are not very many - not any fancy ingredients. I have got some Swiss here but you could use
gruyere and I have got some ham, this is just deli ham and some Swiss cheese. You will need
some Parmigianino Reggiano, nutmeg, butter, flour, milk, salt and pepper, Dijon mustard
and some bread. I am using my homemade honey wheat bread because it is hearty enough to
stand up to this dish, gives it a touch of sweetness with the salty cheeses and the salty
ham. It is just a really incredible combination - it is amazing. Traditionally use a white
bread or like a rustic French bread. But that is what I am using. I use different kinds
of bread all the time depending on what I have on hand, what I decided to bake that
week. So that is what I am using. Now I have got my oven preheated to 400F degrees. What
I am going to do is, I have a baking sheet that I have lined with some aluminum foil
and I am going to brush a little bit of melted butter on both sides of my bread because I
am going to toast this. I want the bread to be toasted because I feel like it holds up
to the sandwich much better when it is toasted. So I am just going to brush it on both sides
with some butter because it gives it not only great flavor but it also helps it get nice
and golden brown. Do that on both sides. Good I used up all my butter. I am going to put
this into the oven for about ten minutes or until it is really beautiful lovely golden
brown and toasted. I am most likely going to flip it half way through or just keep my
eye on it and flip it if I need to just to make sure both sides are golden brown and
toasted. In this little saucepan I have got my butter melting and I am going to add to
that my flour. Now what we a making is a really quick béchamel, a really quick and easy cream
sauce because traditionally Monte Cristo has béchamel with it. Now don't think to yourself
I am not going to go through all that trouble for a ham and cheese sandwich. This literally
takes minutes to do and it is a total treat, something that I would make for the weekend
or something like that. Now I just added my milk and you can see that the flour is still
in clumps but once everything heats up everything melts and it is just perfect. It really is
one of the most delicious fancy sandwiches and my husband and I absolutely love it. I
love this with a frisee salad with some lardons and maybe even a poached egg if I am feeling
fancy. If I am not feeling like doing a poached egg maybe I will do a Croque Madame which
is a Croque Monsieur with an egg on top. I will show you that in a different episode,
it is delicious. I am just going to let this cook until everything thickens and I am waiting
for that flour to pretty much melt completely. This should not take very long at all. That
is looking good, nice and thick. I am going to add my grated Parmigianino, I just grated
some Parmigianino Reggiano. I am actually going to turn that off. And now I am going
to add some salt and pepper and a touch of nutmeg. Easy on the nutmeg because it can
go from delicious to pumpkin pie spice. It is a pretty strong spice so you want to make
sure that you go kind of light on it. But it does, I think, add a world of a difference
to your cream sauce. Stir that in. It is going to be nice and thick especially now that you
have added your cheese it is really thick. I am going to set this aside and check on
my bread, get it out and assemble and we are really close to eating actually. My bread
is nice and toasted so now we are ready pretty much to assemble. I am going to take some
Dijon mustard, I love Dijon mustard, I really, really do and I especially love Dijon mustard
when it comes to ham and cheese. I just think it is a fantastic - it is just like a match
made in heaven. I have to say that Dijon mustard and coarse ground mustard are my favorite.
I am going to put a good layer on one of the pieces of bread. You can do them both if you
want, does not matter. I am just going to do one piece of bread because I don't want
it to be too, too strong. And then I am going to take some swiss - I do one slice - I am
going to cut this in half like that. Then you take your ham and do a couple of slices
of ham because these are really thin slices. Which by the way that is how I like it. If
you can chitchat with your deli person, which you should be able to, you can tell them "hey
listen, cut my ham a little bit thinner." Because I don't like it to be too thick, even
though I am using a couple of slices, I really do feel like the flavor is better if it is
thinner and just put a couple of slices on there than you originally thought you would
use. Hope that makes sense. And then I am going to put the other slice of cheese on
the top and so it is two slices and two slices. Then I go ahead and put the top on. Now this
is a knife and fork sandwich, this is not a pick up with your hands and eat kind of
sandwich. Now, our sauce has got really thick because it has been sitting here while the
bread was toasting, but that is what it does. Once it goes into the oven, which by the way
at this point, I have my broiler preheated. I am going to put some of my sauce on here,
it is full of Parmigianino. Which you guys know I love! I am just going to smear this
like so and it looks weird but trust me it is heaven in your mouth. As soon as this comes
out of the oven it really is. It gets hot and it is bubbly and it is just fabulous.
Then you take one piece of cheese like so and I am going to pop this under the broiler.
Don't put this directly under the broiler. I actually put this on my lower rack so it
is almost the furthest away from the broiler so that it can stay in there a little bit
longer to get everything heated up. And then once the cheese is bubbling and it is melted
and it is golden brown, we are ready to serve. I mean that is it! But I am telling you this
is award worthy that is how good this sandwich is. It really isn't a sandwich because you
need a knife and fork to eat it. I just took these out of the oven and look at that, I
mean, that is just perfection. I am going to cut into this so that you can see. Smells
phenomenal, it is cheesy, it is just glorious. It is very hot at this point. But if anyone
will risk eating a hot sandwich for you guys it is this chick. Let me get a bite of this,
oh I cannot wait. Look at the ham, look at the cheese, look at the bubbliness on top.
It is perfection. Give me a second though because this is really hot. A bigger bite
than I thought. That is money. Salty, but not too salty, it is cheesy and creamy on
the top. The bread is nice and toasted so it really holds the shape really well. And
that mustard, it is just amazing. That is definitely a sandwich "sandwich" fit for company.
Go to LauraintheKitchen.com to get this recipe. I hope you have enjoyed spending time with
me guys and I will see you next time. Bye bye.