In some of the tourist places we visited in France I came across croque monsieur. An inside out grilled cheese sandwich! The kids tried it and thought it was fun.
I loved the inspiration I got while over there. So much good food and ingredients. I got a kick out of this vending machine we found:
I mean how cool is this idea? Fresh veg, fruit, and homemade soups. Don’t get me wrong I loved the Cadbury vending machines when I lived in London but still, this was refreshing to see. Much better than these fish sticks I found:
How sad.
There are several recipes for croque monsieur, all pretty similar. I used Ina Garten’s from Barefoot in Paris as a guide. I used our sourdough bread for this. I really didn’t want to use the soft storebought white bread she recommends. I just don’t like that stuff! I needed to make 4 sandwiches so I toasted the bread ahead of time. Also, prep 1/2 cup of parmesan and 1/2 cup of jarlsberg and set aside.
In a small saucepan melt 2 tablespoons of butter then add 3 tablespoons of flour to the butter.
Keep it on the heat and continue whisking to cook the flour. You don’t want the mixture to burn.
Her recipe called for 2 cups of milk but I felt that was way too much. I decided to go with 1 1/2 cups of milk. We still had too much sauce leftover. Gradually add the milk to the flour mixture, again whisking the whole time to work out the lumps.
With the heat on medium bring the mixture to a near boil. You don’t want to have it actually boil but you need it hot enough to thicken. Keep stirring to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom. Once the sauce thickens remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheese. Dust the top with nutmeg and season with sea salt and pepper.
Spread stone ground mustard of your choice onto half the slices of the toast. Add slices of ham and top with the other slices of bread. Then spoon on the sauce. Top with more jarlsberg cheese.
Broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Serve with a side salad.
I have to say as crazy as this dish sounded to me it was a lot of fun to eat and it was delicious.
One of my favorite dishes. If you want to make for the show. Hahahahaha
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Ha! A lack of kitchen might be an issue! 🙂
This is a sandwich I have not encountered before. Looks delicious and unusual This sandwich is certainly healthier than the Monte Cristo they make in the US, where the sandwich is dipped in batter and fried.
You should try it. It’s very easy to make and doesn’t take that long. 🙂
For sure, I will.
You’re not going to find any better here…nor as good:)
Thank you! 🙂
I love anything with melted cheese – food to soothe the soul!
I agree!
Looks delicious!
Thank you. 🙂
“Dans les règles de l’art@ in French means “following the rules of the art” or simply doing it right. Well, this is done exactly right my friend and it makes me hungry as hell!
High praise indeed, and in French! Merci beacoup. I really need to get a french keyboard installed. So I get the accents right. 😊
Fun for parents too, if you get a nice one.
I definitely enjoyed it. Even adults like to have fun with their food!
oh yeah. lookin good. i just got hungry looking at the monsieur.
Sandwiches can be such great comfort food! Thanks.
A truly scrumptious Croque! There is a cafe on Chapelporth beach that sells Croques and they are delicious after getting cold on the beach! 🙂
That sounds lovely!
Inspired by your post we went there this evening for supper of Croques on the beach! Thank you. 🙂
Love it!