It's Not That Complicated: Julia Child's Croques Monsieur/Croques Madame

 

While watching the movie "It's Complicated" on cable recently I found myself salivating at Meryl Streep's character's chocolate croissants, roasted chicken dinner, and something I'd never heard of before: Croques Monsieur.  In the movie she serves it to Steve Martin's character on a business-ish date while "hilarity ensues" from Alec Baldwin's character as he window peeps on them.  The dish, that they ate with knife and fork, appeared to have been baked and looked creamy and cheesy melty.  She makes reference to having learned to make this dish while in France studying pastry and the reference is repeated by Alec's character talking about how much he misses this dish and how special it was to him.

I thought to myself "Self, you need to investigate, create, and blog this wonderful cheesy thing they're spreading Dijon mustard on and eating with a knife and fork."  As myself often listens to me, I did, and I found that, like my polenta adventure, I was pretty familiar with the dish and remembered how much I liked it:  Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwich.  That's the basic form and I've included that stripped down bare bones version as Julia Child made it.  There are gussied up versions that include baking in the oven rather than grilling in a pan, and added vegetables, eggs, and sauces, but the basic idea of the Croque Monsieur, or "Crispy Mister" is a Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich that was originally served in France in casual bistros around 1910 and has survived ever since. Why? Because it's yummy!  The key difference between a Croque and it's American cousin would be quality of ingredients.  It eschews Wonder Bread for a nice homemade loaf, Kraft American Slices for gruyere or Havarti or Swiss, and a nice ham slice. 

Crispy, hot, and cheesy, it's yummy comfort food with an exotic name.

 

 Croques Monsieur

Recipe by Julia Child as printed in the Boston Globe, Aug 2004

Ingredients:

• 2 thin ( 1/4-inch) slices fresh white sandwich bread of best homemade-type quality
• 2 to 3 tablespoons clarified butter (melt and skim butter, then pour the clear liquid off the milk residue; have a small saucepan of it for several sandwiches)
• 2 thin ( 1/8-inch) slices mozzarella cheese or rather soft Swiss
• 1 thin ( 1/8-inch) slice cooked ham, cut in the same dimensions as the bread

 Directions:

1. On your work surface, lay one slice of bread, brush it with butter, cover with a slice of cheese, a slice of ham, and another slice of cheese. Brush one side of the second slice of bread with butter and lay it, buttered side down, to top the sandwich. Press the sandwich together firmly, leaning on it with the palm of your hand. Trim off the crusts and press down again on the sandwich.

2. In a frying pan, add 1/8 inch of the butter, heat it to bubbling, and brown the sandwiches rather slowly, 2 to 3 minutes on each side, so the cheese will melt. Add more butter as needed. For appetizers, cut the sandwich into quarters or eighths.

Note: If done ahead, arrange on a baking sheet and set aside, covered with plastic wrap. Uncover and heat in a 375-degree oven for 5 minutes or so before serving.

Adapted from "From Julia's Kitchen"

 

Served with a fried egg on top, it is called a Croques Madame, "Crispy Mrs." which reminds me of a less rich Eggs Benedict.   More elegantly, in knife and fork country for sure, it is also at times served with the sandwich covered in Bechamel Sauce (white sauce with nutmeg) and then topped with the egg.  A classic bechamel sauce from Mario Batali can be found at Food Network here:  Classic Bechamel Sauce  Or another version would be served with a Classic Mornay Sauce (Bechamel with cheese), a recipe from Emeril can be found here:  Classic Mornay Sauce

Comments

[Dave at eRecipeCards]

My favorite sandwich

Greetings. This is my first time on your blog, but you have a terrific one. I am always on the look out for new blogs, new ideas. I especially appreciate all the details you d0. Great photos makes it seem like anyone can replicate the recipe!

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in addition, all photos, recipe titles as well as your blog name would link directly back to your blog. Thus giving you new attention and potentially new readers.

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Please take a look. If you have any ideas or questions, please do not hesitate to write

Dave
http://erecipecards.com/
Contact@eRecipeCards.com

[Jamie]

Wow. Looks like a buttery delight. Must. Make. Now.

[Donna Gardner]

Where have you been!!! I now have your blog in my favorites!! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes, I;ve been looking and looking for a break-down easy Croque Monsier. I will be reading you from now on!

[Glenna]

Donna--I've been right here for six years--where have you been? Teasing. Thanks so much for the compliment. I really love cooking (and knitting for the NICU)--thanks for enjoying it with me!

[Terry LaFantasie]

I had the same reaction that you did when I saw the Croque Monsieur in "It's Complicated" (repeatedly)! I have checked out every recipe I could find on the Internet and, like you, ascertained that the authentic version (which is the same as Julia Child's) is a perfect grilled ham and cheese sandwich. That item, however, does not have Mornay or Bechamel sauce, and "Jane's" clearly did (it's impossible to say which). Because I am of French descent and consider there is no possibility of too much cheese, I think I'd opt for Mornay sauce. Another note on "Jane's" sandwich: some recipes call for broiling after the addition of the sauce on top. Since it appears that there is parchment paper in the baking sheets, I don't think broiling would be safe; so "Jane" likely baked them. I definitely plan to make Croque Monsieur and hope that I serve it with the casual aplomb that Meryl Streep did when wielding her spatula.

[Glenna]

Terry, Oh yes, totally agree with you that Jane's had bechamel or mornay sauce on it and it looked heavenly on the movie. Don't know if you read the end of the post but I include links to both. I love that the version with the fried egg is a "Croque Madame" and that was sooooooo yummy! Have made it since with bechamel, shredded asiago, AND the egg on top and it's divine. (Now I'm hungry!)

I cracked up at another reference recently to Croques Monsieur on the new sitcom Suburgatory. Cheryl Hines' (Curb Your Enthusiasm) character says "I never eat in public" so later in the middle of the night, George finds her perched on the dryer eating. He says something like "Why are you eating a ham and cheese sandwich in the middle of the night in the laundry room?" and she avoids the question by saying "It's a Croques Monsieur." I felt so smart for "getting it" I laughed out loud.

[Gina Spoto]

Teaching my 4 year old about some of the great dishes I first tried during my expat life!

[Glenna]

Yay! I love how food really connects us all. So many things are the same or very similar but called something different. It makes for a great learning experience!