Recent Stories with tag Croque Monsieur

Croque Madame

Now that we’ve already discussed the way to make a proper Béchamel, it’s time to move on to actual dishes. We’ll start with the Croque Monsieur and Madame, open-faced hot ham and cheese sandwiches helped along with a nice layer of béchamel and, in the case of the Madame, a sunny side egg; masterpieces of simple French fare and the kind of dish that, when made with good ingredients, rival any number of far more complicated preparations.

Seattle is not without Croque-serving restaurants--Café Presse has a nice one for $6 ($7.25 for the Madame), as does Bastille in Ballard, albeit for an alarming $9 ($11 for the Madame). If you are new to the Croque, these versions are worth trying. However, if you are truly interested in a superb Croque, you must be prepared to make it at home. Besides, except for the béchamel, making a Croque is not so much cooking as assembling.

Most important are your ingredients. First, make a well-seasoned Béchamel. For the bread, the traditional choice is thick-cut square white sandwich bread (in France, Pain de Mie), but I like a something a little more substantial, something like Grand Central’s Como bread or Essential’s Columbia loaf. Cut one 3/4” slice for each sandwich.

The Ham in a Croque is traditionally an unsmoked Parisian Ham, but really you should use whatever ham you happen to like. My favorite is Zoe’s Meats Applewood Smoked Ham--you can buy it at Delaurenti for a small fortune. Budget a few slices of ham per sandwich.

Now! I’ve been flexible up to this point, but as for the Cheese, there is absolutely no room for interpretation. It needs to be Gruyère, Swiss Gruyère or Gruyère de Comté (essentially the same cheese, but made in France). Do not buy domestic Swiss cheese. Do not buy Jarlesburg. Only buy real Gruyère. (That being said, a hot ham and cheese sandwich with sharp Cheddar is a glorious thing, it’s just not a Croque.)...

(more)