I channeled Alton Brown this week. I recently watched a rerun of him making his Coconut Cake.  At the end of the show, he joked that he made a delicious cake and it only took him half a day.  Even though this recipe is by Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa), the energy was definitely devoted to Alton.

 

I first made homemade Honey Challah Bread the night before and then the next day I made these sandwiches using the homemade bread.  I don’t recommend this much work to normally make a sandwich, but I do admit it was wonderful with the homemade bread!  Croque Monsieur sandwiches are basically a fancy, over the top, hot ham and cheese sandwich with cheese sauce poured over top.

 

According to the Barefoot Contessa, this Croque Monsieur recipes feeds 4 – 8.  I made 5 sandwiches with this recipe by cutting the recipe to 10 slices of bread instead of the 16 that Ina Garten recommends.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups hot milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt

12 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch nutmeg

12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed (I altered this to Honey Challah bread, crusts removed – I would use store bought bakery bread if possible)

Dijon mustard (I used a honey mustard for the kids)

8 ounces baked ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring for 2 minutes.  Slowly pour in hot milk, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened.  Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup of grated Gruyere and the Parmesan, set aside.

Toast the bread by placing on baking sheets and baking for 5 minutes (I personally felt this was a little long) and flip and toast for another 2 minutes.

Lightly brush half the toasted bread with mustard (use your own preference) and sprinkle with half the remaining gruyere.  Top with ham, Gruyere, and then the other toasted half of bread.  Slather the tops of the sandwiches with the cheese sauce and sprinkle the remaining Gruyere on top.  Bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes.  Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 – 5 minutes or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned.  Serve hot.

I know the food snobs will say that the Gruyere can’t be substituted,  In my area, Gruyere is not inexpensive.  If you need to shave the price of this meal, use any melty cheese within your budget.  Fontina or Monterey Jack perhaps?    I think the traditional recipe is fabulous.  However, if you need to trim the cost of these very heavy sandwiches, I figure you can still give the recipe a try using the cheese of your choice.