[BB] Croque Monsieur

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It’s Barefoot Blogger time again! Our second challenge for April was selected by Kathy of All Food Considered, and what a great choice it was! Beebop and I had this for dinner last night with the Salad and Classic Vinaigrette I posted yesterday. A glass of white wine alongside made this a wonderful spring dinner.

I would caution anyone, though, that as is typical of Ina’s dishes, this one is quite rich. One per person is a gracious plenty and the recipe makes eight. Yikes! I made a half recipe and it was far more than we needed for dinner. I’d suggest serving something very light along with this recipe.

For 8 generous servings, here’s what you need:

2 tblsp unsalted butter
3 tblsp all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
12 oz. Gruyere, grated
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed (Note: I used half good, white sandwich bread and half marbled pumpernickel and rye)
Dijon mustard
8 oz. baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Here’s what you do: 

Preheat the oven to 400 F. 

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes.

Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, ½ cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

And, yes, I do realize that there are 8 slices in this picture and I wound up with only three croque monsieur. That’s because when I was making the roux and grating the cheese, I realized there was no way in the world I could eat two of these! I wound up doing one for myself and two for BeeBop. It was still a little much for him.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard,

add a slice of ham to each,

and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere.

Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes.

Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Enjoy! 

© Ina Garten, The Food Network

Download a printable copy here.

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