- Hey guys.
So, I first wanted to say welcome
to all of the new subscribers that are finding my channel,
it's so nice to meet so many people from all over the world,
welcome to the community, I hope you enjoy the recipes,
and one of the things that you may not know or you may know
is that my husband is French
and one of the things that we do here at this house a lot is
try to recreate his favorite childhood dishes
and we could not be complete on this channel without
tackling the croque monsieur, it's one of his favorites.
If you're unfamiliar with this recipe,
it's kind of like a grilled cheese sandwich
except for the melted cheese is on the outside
of the sandwich and inside is a rich and delicious
bechamel sauce with some salted ham and it does have its
female counterpart known as the croque madame,
so I'm gonna show you how to make both.
The only difference with the croque madame
is that it has a fried egg on top.
Let me show you how to put it together.
The first step with these sandwiches is you have to create
your bechamel sauce which is really simple to do.
So, in a large saute pan, we're going to melt
two tablespoons of butter and once that's nice and melted
you can then add in one tablespoon of flour
and you wanna whisk that up until it's all combined
and then you're slowly gonna add in three fourths cup
of whole milk and you can whisk that up and then you wanna
set your flame on medium high just until it starts to simmer
and then as it simmers, you'll see it'll start to thicken.
And once it gets to the desired thickness,
you can turn off the flame.
It will continue to thicken up as it sits there to be honest
and that's okay, the thicker the better, really,
for these sandwiches.
Then we wanna flavor it with a little salt and pepper
to taste and then at this stage I like to add either
a little pinch of ground white pepper or a pinch of nutmeg,
either one is great.
I wouldn't do both, though, I would pick either or.
And then you can sit that aside
then we are going to toast some bread.
Now, traditionally, these sandwiches are made
with just plain white sandwich bread
and you certainly could go that route.
I like to make mine a little bit more gourmet
and use kind of a more rustic sandwich bread,
something that's like whole wheat
or has a little bit more weight to it.
So, really, the type of bread is up to you.
And then you wanna toast the bread on each side.
I just pop it in my oven under the broiler.
And then you're gonna add about a tablespoon
of the bechamel sauce on either side of the bread.
And then you're gonna add two slices of deli ham,
fold your sandwich, and place it on a cookie sheet.
And on top of that you wanna add about
a half of cup of grated Gruyère cheese.
And then under the broiler it goes,
you do wanna keep an eye on it,
and you can pull it out once that cheese is really melted
and starting to kinda turn golden brown.
And then at this stage, I know this is not very French,
but I do like to add about a tablespoon of freshly minced
parsley on mine just because I think it's a nice
counterpoint to all the richness,
to have a little bit of freshness.
Okay, and then for the fried egg,
here's what you're gonna do.
You wanna start with a small saute pan,
something that's non-stick, preferably.
You're gonna add a little bit of butter
and then once it's nice and melted,
you're gonna crack in your egg.
I find it's a lot easier to crack the egg
right into the pan, although some people
like to put it in a little bowl and plop that in.
Really, whatever you're most comfortable with.
And then as it starts to cook, this is what my husband does,
and I do think it's pretty genius, I've never seen this tip,
so tell me if you guys do this as well, but he'll take a
fork and he'll start to kind of like cut into the whites
that aren't cooking as fast as the edges and what that will
do is sort of reposition that yolk so that it's right
in the center and give you a more balanced egg
so that you don't have thickness in whites on one side
and then thinness on the other.
And you just kinda keep doing that until everything is nice
and opaque and then comes the frying part.
So, I have always taken an egg too soon
and my husband says no, you have to let it really fry.
So, okay, so I let it really fry and then those edges
get nice and kind of buttery and crispy on the edges.
And then the finishing touch is just to add a little bit of
freshly cracked pepper inside that yolk
and then you can slide your egg gently on top
of your sandwich and that will give you a croque madame
and then the other one we are croque monsieur.
There you have it, Mr. and Mrs. Croque.
And then I like to serve mine
with two different types of mustard.
So, I like to do some Dijon mustard
and then some whole grain mustard.
I think the combination of both is really nice.
And then my husband really likes the Dijon mustard
but then he'll also have some little cornichons on the side
as well which are these really sour pickles that he loves,
so I make sure I give him a few of those.
And because these sandwiches are pretty rich
between the cheese and the bechamel sauce,
I do like to serve these with a nice toss salad
and I'll leave you my recipe for the vinegarette down below.
And I have to draw attention to my new beautiful bowl
that I just received from Housekeeper Crockery.
This is a wonderful woman who is reproducing beautiful
handmade pottery and copper ware, all American made,
and I told her I'd give her a shout out.
So, head on over to her website and check out
what she's doing, follow her on Instagram, she has some
beautiful pieces, I'll leave you a link in the description.
And then when you cut into these sandwiches,
and I would recommend a sharp knife,
as it's quite a situation you have here between
the crispy bread and the cheese and that bechamel sauce
and that ham, it is so satisfying and comforting.
So, there you have it, a delicious weeknight meal,
especially if you want to channel the brasseries of France.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
Subscribe for more quick and easy recipes
and I will see you back here next week with another one.
Until then, bye.