Croque Monsieur

 

I have been in such a recipe rut as this pandemic and quarantine has continued on for so long. Having to think of meals to cook every day for 15 months has taken its toll on my cooking creative juices.  Even though restaurants are opening up again, I have given myself a challenge to try a brand new recipe once a week.

This week took The Husband and I on a virtual foodie tour down the Champs Elysee where we stopped at a charming French bistro and ate this delicious Croque Monsieur and a simple green salad. It's a very rich sandwich so nothing more was needed. Okay, I'm fibbing a little. Some mousse au chocolat would have been a divine dessert. 

Croque Monsieur

Sandwiches

• 8 slices hearty white sandwich bread
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 12 ounces thinly sliced Black Forest deli ham
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (1 cup)     

Mornay Sauce

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (1 cup)
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE SANDWICHES: Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray.

2. Brush bread on both sides with melted butter and place on prepared sheet. Bake until light golden brown on top, about 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and flip slices. Return to oven and bake until golden brown on second side, about 3 minutes. Reserve 4 slices for sandwich tops; evenly space remaining 4 slices on sheet.

3. FOR THE MORNAY SAUCE: Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and bring to boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and quickly whisk in Gruyère, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until smooth.

4. Spread 1 tablespoon Mornay on each slice of toast on sheet. Then, folding ham slices over themselves multiple times so they bunch up, divide ham evenly among slices of toast. Spread 2 tablespoons Mornay on 1 side of each reserved slice of toast and place slices Mornay side down on top of ham.

5. Spread 2 tablespoons Mornay evenly over top of each sandwich, making sure to completely cover toast, including edges (exposed edges can burn under broiler). Sprinkle sandwiches with Parmesan, followed by Gruyère.

6. Bake until cheese on top of sandwiches is melted, about 5 minutes. Turn on broiler and broil until cheese bubbles across tops of sandwiches and edges are spotty brown, about 5 minutes. Serve.

I Had A Dream

A couple nights before Thanksgiving I had a dream about a turkey sandwich. Not just any garden variety turkey sandwich, but a turkey sandwich recipe that I had created.  I was so excited about this jolt of food creativity.  Not only was it this amazingly creative recipe but in my dream I had also envisioned a blog entry.

Now here is the thing.  In the light of day I knew I hadn't created this recipe.  Who hasn't heard of a Turkey, Avocado, and Bacon sandwich before?  But in my dream, it was a slider on a leftover dinner roll, and I had given it a terribly creative name:  TAB. 

No not this Tab.  My new and amazing sandwich was going to be called the TAB and everyone would be clamoring for it.  I think I need to get a life.  This food blogging has really taken me "around the bend" as a dear old friend once said to me about my blog.

Well, not being the most clever person in the world, I just knew when I awoke I couldn't let this burst of inspiration pass me by.  So today, two days post Thanksgiving with a Tupperware full of turkey leftovers, I decided to make my "dream sandwich."  May I present the TAB.

Ingredients:  Turkey, avocado slices, bacon slices, small dinner rolls, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper.  Put it all together and enjoy.

Super Bowl Sandwich

Apparently there is some sort of big game on today.  I swear I didn't even know which teams were playing until this morning as I watched Sunday Morning on CBS.  I thought the Dallas Cowboys were playing because I kept hearing the Dallas Stadium was covered in snow (as is practically the whole USA).

Well, I'm not going to be called a party pooper and I decided to get into the spirit of the day and make a manwich, even though the chances of The Husband watching the entire game is slim to none.  He is known to sit through baseball game after baseball game and when his alum team, the Oregon State Beavers are playing football he will pay attention.  Thankfully though, his interest in pro football is near zero. 

We will most likely tune in for halftime entertainment, which again I learned, thanks to Sunday Morning on CBS, will be the Black Eyed Peas.  While watching these said Peas, we will eat our manwiches and pretend we care, like all good Americans do because afterall, isn't the Superbowl a truly American tradition?

My sandwich is made with the most delicious coldcuts out there, from Boar's Head, a 100 year old company out of New York City.  I first tried them while living in Seattle and use to buy it at the Pike Place Market at a wonderful Italian food shop called DeLaurenti's. Check it out next time you're in Seattle. Our local grocery store, Roth's, fortunately now carries these products.

I used an Italian bread, sprinkled olive oil and red wine vinegar over, spread on some olive tapenade, then layered mortadella, black forest ham, provolone, genoa salami and cheddar cheese.  Served with some chips, a slice of pickle, and a cold beer and we're ready for the game!

Is It A Sandwich Or Dessert?

My dear friend Warren and I use to eat lunches together all the time when we both worked at the same medical facility.  We would go all over the hospital's neighborhood trying out different restaurants, sometimes laughing so much that our stomachs hurt and we couldn't eat, and sometimes fighting so much our stomachs hurt and we couldn't eat.

One of my favorite things to order for some odd reason was a Monte Cristo sandwich.  Whenever it was on a menu I would order one up and compare it to others I had tasted.  Warren use to be so irritated by this particular sandwich choice of mine.  It never failed that as soon as this powder sugar coated, jam accented french toast like sandwich was placed in front of me, he would say "That isn't a sandwich.  It's dessert."  These statements of his always amused me so.

I hadn't thought of that in a long time until I was planning a menu for a Sunday luncheon and The Husband suggested we have Monte Cristo sandwiches.  This too amused me as I have never seen him order a Monte Cristo before nor have I ever made them for us.  Nonetheless, I thought why not?  I will state here and now though, in honor of my friend Warren I skipped the traditional accompaniments of powdered sugar and jam so it was indeed a sandwich and not dessert.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches
(makes 3)

9 slices white bread
6 slices ham
6 slices turkey
6 slices havarti or swiss cheese
mayonnaise
Dijon mustard
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
Powdered sugar and jam of your choice optional

For each sandwich, lay out three slices of bread.  Lightly spread mayonnaise and mustard on two slices.  Put a slice of cheese, ham and turkey on these slices. Place on top of each other ending with the third piece of bread.

Beat together the eggs, milk and salt in a shallow dish.  Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Carefully dip each sandwich top and bottom into the egg/milk mixture and place in the hot frying pan.  Fry on each side until a golden brown.  Put a lid over the pan as each side is cooking to ensure that the filling gets hot and the cheese melts.

Cut each sandwich into four triangular pieces and serve.