Recette : Croque Monsieur

It is a very popular French sandwich. It is similar to a grilled ham and cheese sandwich but the French add a creamy white sauce and use Swiss cheese to give it a tangy and moist taste.

Sauce Béchamel (white creamy sauce)

For 8 sandwiches use:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1/2 litre (about 2 cups) of cold milk
• A pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg
  

Method:

1. Melt the butter and margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Add the flour. Stir this carefully for a few seconds until it becomes bubbly.
2. Add all of the milk to this mixture and stir it with a wire whip to blend all of the flour mixture with the milk. Add the pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg.
3. Cook this mixture over low heat for about 10 minutes. Watch carefully so that it does not boil or burn.

Sandwich

For 8 sandwiches:

• 16 slices of sandwich bread
• 8 thin slices of ham
• 8 thin slices of Gruyère (mild Swiss cheese)
• 1/1 lb of grated Gruyère (mild Swiss cheese)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup butter or margarine
  

Method:

1. Butter all 16 slices of bread on one side
2. Put 8 slices of bread butter-side down on a cookie sheet and place the 8 slices of ham and the 8 slices of Gruyère (mild Swiss cheese) on each piece of bread and then cover these with the other 8 slices of bread but with the butter-side up this time.
3. Put a little butter in a frying pan and add as many sandwiches as you can to be able to brown them and to melt the cheese a bit. Fry them on both sides to brown the bread and then put them back on the cookie sheet.
4. Divide the white sauce over the tops of the sandwiches and then divide the grate Gruyère (mild Swiss cheese) over the tops of the sandwiches.
5. Put the sandwiches on the cookie sheet in the oven with the grill on to melt the cheese and warm the sauce mixture. Watch these so that they do not burn.
   

Serve warm!