Croque Monsieur or Madame

Tags

bistro meal, Cheese, classic french, croque, croque madame, croque monsieur, grilled cheese, lunch, sandwich, toasted cheese

At its best a croque monsieur is a strong contender for the world’s finest cheese and ham sandwich.  It basically is a french gourmet version of the grilled cheese.

There are very few ingredients but to make the classic bistro favourite, each ingredient must be of the best quality and of course the right choice.

So as this is a sandwich, it makes sense to start with the right bread. A good croque monsieur is both crisp and tender. You need a soft yet firm white sandwich bread, (pain de mie), reasonably thick slices. Some people like brioche for their croque because it’s both soft and buttery, but any high-quality white sandwich bread is good here.

Next the cheese. The traditional is a delicious gruyère. Gruyère is a firm, slightly elastic mountain cheese with a slightly sweet, nutty flavour. Most importantly for our purposes, it melts magnificently, but a good comté or cantal is just as good. Freshly grated is very important. You do not want to use pre grated and packaged.

Next is the ham. Again here, not any old packaged ham. Nice medium sliced french ham is best.

Of course, there is one thing that sets the croque apart from other great cheese and ham toasted sandwiches, namely that it arrives at the table drowned in golden and bubbling bechamel sauce.

The croque monsieur often comes accessorised with dijon mustard, the acidic heat tempering its outrageous cheesiness.

And of course if you wish to make a croque madame, it is exactly the same thing but with a fried egg added on top.

Makes 4

Ingredients:

• 8 thick slices white bread
• 8 slices ham, preferably Paris ham (jambon blanc)
• 150g / 5oz. Gruyère, grated
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

béchamel

• 30g / 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 30g / ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 250ml / 1 cup whole milk
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F
Béchamel: Melt the butter on low heat
Add the flour and whisk for a few minutes Add the cold milk, bit by bit, while whisking continuously
Add the nutmeg and season to taste
Allow to thicken slightly
Pour into a bowl, cover with cling film or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes
Spread some of the cold béchamel on each slice of bread
Add a bit more than half of the grated cheese onto 4 slices of bread
Place a slice of ham on top of the cheese
Close the slices of bread by placing the slices with béchamel on top of the slices with the cheese and ham, béchamel side inside
Press firmly to close
Spread the remaining béchamel on the sandwiches and top with the rest of the grated cheese
Place the sandwiches on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper
Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, until they are golden brown
Serve immediately
Bon Appétit!

 

 

 

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Lapin à la moutarde / Rabbit in mustard sauce

Tags

classic french, cream, Lapin, mustard, Rabbit

It’s easy to see why mustard is a classic ingredient in rabbit dishes. It’s delicious. This kind of thing would be really good made with chicken thighs and legs too. I’d take the skin off to minimize the amount of fat if using chicken. Domestic rabbits (farm-raised, not wild) give a very lean white meat that is not at all strongly flavoured.

Serve with rice or sautéed potatoes.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

1 rabbit (about 3 to 4lbs / 1 1/2 to 2 kg), cut into serving pieces
3/4 bottle of dry white wine (I used a Chablis)
3 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (I used a combination of classic Dijon and wholegrain)
250ml / 1 cup crème fraîche
3 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
5 shallots, finely sliced
3 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 carrot, sliced thinly (optional)
1 cube of sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped roughly

Preparation:

Coat the pieces of rabbit with the Dijon mustard (3 tablespoons)
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat
Add the rabbit and brown on all sides
Meanwhile bring to the boil, in a saucepan, the wine with the bay leaves, thyme, garlic, sugar and carrot
When the rabbit is nicely browned, remove to a plate and keep warm
In the skillet add more butter, if needed, and cook the shallots until translucent
Add the rabbit and the wine mixture
Season and allow to simmer for about 1 hour
In a bowl, mix the cream, the 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard and some parsley
Remove the rabbit when cooked and place on a serving platter
Add the cream and mustard mixture to the wine cooking juices and cook for 2 minutes, do not allow it to boil
Pour the sauce over the rabbit and serve
Bon Appétit!

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Salade Frisée aux Lardons – Endive salad with bacon

Tags

bacon, classic french, egg, endive, frisee, lardons, salad

Maison Travers

This is one of my all time favorite classic french bistro salads. So easy to put together and a meal in itself or a starter, all depends on how much you serve yourself. You want to use a nice curly endive salad with tender, light green centers. Do not use the harder dark green outer leaves. For the lardons, you may use bacon or pancetta and traditionally the egg is a soft poached egg. Clearly as you can see from my photograph, I did not use a poached egg. A poached egg is way better as when you cut into it, it runs out onto the salad, croutons and lardons and is so good, but I had two hard-boiled eggs in my refrigerator that I wanted to use, so I used that instead.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 handfuls frisée / curly endive
200g lardons
4 eggs
2 teaspoons dijon mustard

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