French cuisine is famous for its original cold appetizers . Many of them over time have gained popularity in other countries of the world. Take, for example, a delicious Croc Monsieur sandwich. The recipe for its preparation is interesting and at the same time quite simple. In addition, the dish itself also has a talking name. After all, " croc " in translation from French means "crunch". This is the essence of the product itself. It is designed for men who like to crunch with taste.
Oven sandwich
Many French families often cook Croque Monsieur for a quick bite. The recipe for this dish is unique in that a regular white bread sandwich with cheese and ham is baked with the addition of a flavored morne sauce. For cooking, you will need the following components:
white bread (you can take a loaf), ham and Gruyere cheese.
For the sauce:
50 grams of butter, 200 milliliters of cream, Parmesan cheese, salt, 40 grams of flour and a quarter teaspoon of pre- grated nutmeg.
How to make Croque Monsieur? The recipe usually starts with making the sauce:
- First you need to grind the cheese.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and, adding flour to it, turn with a constant stirring into a homogeneous pulp. The French call this mixture " ru ."
- Add cream to the stewpan and stir everything thoroughly so that there are no lumps. The resulting mass must be brought to a boil over low heat.
- Introduce the rest of the ingredients and wait while stirring until all the cheese has melted . The sauce is ready.
- Now you can do the sandwich directly. For this, a piece of bread should be spread with butter on one side . Gently place a slice of ham and grated cheese on top. Cover the products with a second piece of bread.
- Coat the workpiece with oil from the outside, and then put it on a baking sheet and send it to the oven for 5 - 6 minutes, after heating the latter to 190 degrees.
- Turn the product with the fried side up and pour it with the prepared sauce. Again, send it to the oven for about another 5 minutes .
It turns out a fragrant and very delicious Croque Monsieur. The recipe is good because it is preparing a sandwich very quickly. This is very useful when time for a snack is limited.
Sandwich in the pan
In the absence of an oven, you can also cook Croque Monsieur. The recipe with a photo of the finished sandwich already causes a desire to quickly begin the process of preparation. We will tell you how to bring your plan to life using an ordinary frying pan. First you need to collect the required products on the desktop. For 4 servings you will need:
100 grams of butter, 75 grams of flour, 1.7 cups of milk, salt, fresh bread, 2 teaspoons of Worcester sauce, 110 grams of any hard cheese, a teaspoon of thyme, 340 grams of ham, 4 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 0.5 cups of Parmesan grated ), a little allspice and a third of a teaspoon of chopped nutmeg .
Cooking method:
- First, you need to melt 40 grams of oil in a pan.
- Add flour and mix well.
- Slowly introduce milk and boil the resulting mass over low heat for about 3 minutes.
- Add Worcester sauce, salt, nutmeg and thyme.
- Grease 4 slices of bread on one side with Dijon mustard .
- Sprinkle with cheese and put a slice of ham on top. Cover with the remaining pieces of bread.
- Fry sandwiches in oil in a pan on one side.
- Turn over the blanks, pour the fried crust with fresh sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Hold the sandwiches in the pan for a few more seconds, so that their top can be browned.
Despite its simplicity, this design looks very appetizing.
The secret of the classics
You can cook Croque Monsieur in different ways. The classic recipe is the easiest to use, since you need a minimal set of ingredients to work. Sauce for this option is not used at all. This greatly facilitates the work. You only need:
4 slices of loaf (bread) 2 lettuce, 100 grams of cheese, 50 grams of butter, herbs and 80 grams of ham.
The process itself is extremely simple. It consists of three operations that need to be done in the following order:
- Fry all slices of bread on one side until crisp in a pan.
- Put cheese on 2 slices and wait until it melts. To do this, it is better to cover the pan .
- Put ham, greens, salad on the cheese and cover with all the remaining slices of bread. Wait another 30 seconds. This time will be enough.
The finished sandwich can be served immediately with hot tea or coffee. By the way, such a dish is not customary to eat with your hands. The French in this case must use cutlery (fork and knife).
Croc-Provence
There are several options for making Croque Monsieur sandwiches. Recipes differ in the composition of the layer located between two pieces of bread. It does not have to be ham and cheese. In cooking, several varieties of this famous dish are known. The most popular of them is croc :
- Hawaiian (with pineapple);
- Norwegian (with salmon);
- tartiflet (with potatoes);
- provence (with tomatoes).
For example, you can consider how the last option is prepared. It most resembles the original itself. The following ingredients are used to make such a sandwich:
slices of bread (loaf), ham, butter, cheese and tomatoes.
The technology for preparing such a sandwich:
- Cut bread on all sides of the crust.
- Put cheese, ham and a circle of tomato on one slice.
- Cover with a second piece of bread.
- Lubricate the outside of the bread with butter and then fry it using an oven or pan.
Sometimes, as a simplified option, you can take a regular sandwich maker . All that remains is to put the pieces of bread with a layer in the mold and clamp between the plates. It takes a few seconds to bake . It is very convenient to resort to this method in the morning when there is very little time for preparing breakfast.