Cook The Book Fridays (CtBF), is a group of bloggers who are currently cooking/baking from David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen. This week's selected recipe is Fried Ham And Cheese Sandwich, or Croque-Monsieur.
There's a bechamel sauce that needs to be made first. The sauce takes sometime to thicken when it was taken off the heat, so best prepare in advance. Mine took about 40 minutes to thicken.
To make the Croque-Monsieur, the bechamel sauce is spread ovenly over the four slices of bread. Place a piece of ham over two of the bread slices, top with slices of cheese, then with another piece of ham. Place the two remaining slices of bread over, and brush the outsides of the bread with a generous amount of melted butter. I thought the ham slices were a little too big, but the photo in the book with the ham slices peeking out from between the bread slices looks so nice.
Heat a grill pan over medium heat, Place the sandwiches in the pan, cover with a piece of foil, then rest a heavy pot or pan over the foil. Cook until the bottom of the sandwiches are golden with grilled marks. Turn over carefully and repeat on the other side.
Scatter some grated cheese over the top of the sandwiches and put it under the broiler to broil the sandwiches until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.
I wanted to add a sunny-side egg to make Croque-Madame, but I thought that this Croque-Monsieur is filling enough!
This is indeed very filling! Love the melting cheese and the tasty bechamel sauce. I made this for brunch, with a cup of warm tea and it was good. If you would like to give it a try, you can get the recipe here. It would be all the better to get the book and join us!
I wonder what the other lovely ladies at CtBF made, Croque-Monsieur or Croque-Madame? Drop by CtBF to find out!
But how nice and good this sandwich is divine and very tasty . Congratulations real delizai ! Big kiss good day ! by Mirta
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce, i'm drooling looking at this melting cheese! ham and cheese is a perfect match made in heaven. Love this combi! Yumm...yumm...
ReplyDeleteSo glad you liked it! We loved it, too, and I agree that it's decadent enough without the egg on top. :) Sounds like you all had a great brunch!
ReplyDeleteVery filling indeed! I agree, the egg is delicious; but can be a little too much food at times.
ReplyDeleteI like the gooey cheese dripping in your last photo. IMO, there is nothing better than homemade sourdough bread. It's almost a travesty to cover it up with cheese but, my, it must have been delicious. Such lovely grill marks and then they get covered up with the cheese although that's what has always made this sandwich so very special.
ReplyDeleteThis was just so delicious, wasn't it? While I am all about going all in I just couldn't even with the egg.
ReplyDeleteThe shot with the melting cheese makes you want to stick your finger out to lick it. Can't beat the homemade bread.
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce,
ReplyDeleteI would love to have this yummy fried ham & cheese sandwich for my brunch too!
It IS very filling, isn't it- your homemade bread looks great!
ReplyDeleteThis was so filling and delicious! I couldn't add the cheese on the outside let alone an egg on top!
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed you even made your own bread!
That's a marvelous sandwich!
ReplyDeleteYours looks beautiful! It must have been especially delicious with homemade bread. I didn't add an egg either - this sandwich was more than filling enough for me as it was.
ReplyDeleteThe melted cheese looks wonderful. Kudos for making your own sourdough!
ReplyDeleteI made both Croque Monsieur and Madame. It's hard to choose which I liked better. I did like the way the egg looked on top of the Madame -- very cheerful. I'm sure that was extra good with your own bread.
ReplyDeleteWell done Joyce! You bake your own bread to make this!
ReplyDeleteA fantastic sandwich! It was a big hit in our house. Your sourdough bread sounds lovely.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing about the Croque-Monsieur being filling enough, but I would love to try the Croque-Madame some time. Yours looks delicious!
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