Croque Monsieur法式三明治

by | May 16, 2021 | French

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My youngest kid once showed me a flyer from his French class and asked me if I could make croque monsieur for him. As I was still trying to improve my English, I had no idea about those two French words. It turned out this is a pretty popular café/bar food. It means “crunch (bite), sir”. The dish name might be hard to pronounce but the ingredients are pretty simple. Most (good) croque monsieur use thin slices of French ham, Gruyere cheese and two slices of bread. To make it creamier, you can also fill and top the bread with béchamel (the white sauce). The sandwich is cooked under broiler to make cheese liquefied and caramelized. The liquefied cheese should hang out the side of the bread. The sandwich is rich and salty, which is not my favorite flavor choice.  However, it is a substantial and fun to have once in a while.

Croque Monsieur

Croque Monsieur法式三明治

A common French cafe/bar food with simple ingredients. Rich and creamy!
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Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine French

Equipment

  • 6“ saucepan
  • 12“ saucepan (or electric bread toaster)
  • cheese grater
  • baking pan

Ingredients
  

  • 6 slices white bread (country bread) slices
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 7-8 oz gruyere cheese (210-230gram)
  • 5 oz French-style ham (8 pieces bread size)
  • 0.5 tsp salt (optional)
  • pinch nutmeg (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375F.
  • Grate the gruyere cheese.
  • Toast all the bread at medium heat (2-3 mins each side) in the large sauce pan (or bake the bread pieces in the oven for 3-5 mins).
  • Melt the butter at low heat in the small saucepan.
  • Add the flour to the molten butter and stir with a wooden spoon constantly for about 2-3 mins.
  • Add the milk into the butter/flour mixture. Keep the heat at low and whisk constantly until the sauce (béchamel) thickens.
  • Take the sauce off heat and season with nutmeg (and salt).
  • Spread the toasted bread with the butter/milk sauce with a spoon. Sprinkle grated gruyere cheese on top of the sauce.
  • Place 2-3 pieces of ham on half of the bread pieces. (Each bread has 2-3 pieces of ham).
  • Top the above bread pieces with the other half of bread slices. (cheese is in the middle)
  • Slather the tops with the sauce and sprinkle with the remaining gruyere cheese.
  • Bake the sandwiches for 8-10 minutes.
  • Turn on broiler to low heat (400F) and broil for 3 to 5 mins, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned.
  • Serve hot.

Video

Notes

-Since cheese and ham are sort of salty, you don't have to add salt to the butter/flour/milk sauce, which is called béchamel in French. 
-You don't have to add nutmeg to the sauce either. 
-Some recipes use country bread. The bread I used was bought at a local Japanese bakery. As long as you don't use sourdough or whole wheat, I think you are fine.
 
Keyword béchamel, croque madame, Croque Monsieur, french ham, Gruyere cheese, ham, white sauce, 三明治, 法式三明治, 法餐