Originally found on Parisian cafe menus in the early 1900's, Croque Monsieur's were originally a hot ham and cheese sandwich, fried in butter. Sometime, several years later, more elaborate versions of the sandwich were made, and bechamel was added to the mix. A few years after that, the Monsieur met a Madame, and we were introduced to this beloved bistro snack topped with a fried egg.
I made these Crispy Misters (translation of Croque Monsieur) with my boys last week when they came home for lunch, and they have now been declared our new "family favourite". A food purist, I omitted the bechamel and stuck to the original method for making these sandwich. The boys were excited to make these, so I prepared all of the elements of the sandwich, laid out the ingredients and gave them directions for assembly. They loved it, especially the spreading of the melted butter. I took over the cooking of the sandwich while they set the table and a warm, tasty lunch was set in front of us in less that fifteen minutes.
We're going to try the Croque Madame next week but I can't imagine liking that more that this. What sandwiches are you making these days? Do you eat sandwiches for dinner or are they a lunch-hour food only? Have a great day, friends!
Croque Monsieur
8 slices of thin bread
8 slices of ham
1 cup of grated gruyere or swiss cheese
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp butter, melted
~ Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
~ Lay out the eight slices of bread and brush melted butter over both sides of each piece of bread
~ Spread Dijon mustard over four slices of the buttered bread and top each with a handful of grated cheese.
~ Place two slices of ham over the cheese and top with another slice of bread.
~ Fry in a skillet over medium-high heat until both sides are crispy and browned.
~ Place the sandwiches in a baking dish and top each with a small amount of the remaining cheese.
~ Bake under the broiler (only a minute or so - watch carefully) until the cheese is golden.
~ Enjoy!
Now for a little housekeeping:
~ Please refer to Fridays post for the winner of the Cooking Fun for Kids cookbook.
~ Also, the winners of the small foodie prize packs have finally been selected (what a process that was!). Thank you for all of your many, many comments. The following people are the winners. Please email me at mixingbowlkids@gmail.com to claim your prizes.
thedoodlegirl - Wow!! What a lovely and delicious blog! I'm so glad I've discovered it. :)
maria - Hi, Thanks for the gorp bars! H is for honey certainly, but maybe combined with something unexpected ...honey and carrots?
Liz - I am SO making this! What a great idea!
Heidi - I'm really looking forward to following your through your ABC kitchen. My favorite lunch box treat is to make a batch of smoothie and then freeze it in screw top containers. The ball jar company makes some great ones that are plastic and don't leak. Then place the container full of frozen smoothie in the lunch box with a spoon. By lunch time it has thawed slightly to a sorbet-like texture. Yum!
Ann - Love the soup recipe - nothing better than a warm pot of soup on a winter's night. I have just made some Tomato and Basil soup for the freezer to remind me of summer. 'C' food ideas. I just love Chocolate and Courgette Cake, Carrot Cake, giant oven Chips made from homegrown potatoes and parsnips,Cherries, Cornflakes, Corn-on-the-cob,Chutney, Cheddar Cheese and of course Cup Cakes. Ah! well just a few 'C's to be going on with.
I loooove croque monsieurs - thanks for reminding me to make them!
Posted by: Adrie | October 30, 2009 at 07:33 AM