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French Kitchen Bistro: Croque-Monsieur

Today, we’re featuring a French bistro classic — the croque-monsieur.  The croque-monsieur (also simply called croque) is similar to a grilled cheese sandwitch in the US.   Nobody really knows where the name comes from but literally it means “bite-mister.”  It is said that the first croque-monsieur dates back to 1910 when it was served in a Parisian café.  A croque-monsieur is as simple as can be and makes for a wonderful quick movie night dinner.  They are also great for a quick spring lunch or dinner on the patio.  Check our detailed recipe and Art of the Home suggestions below.  Enjoy and bon appétit!

"croque" "croque-monsieur"

Croque-Monsieur

by Art of the Home

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

  • 8 slices of bread
  • 8 slices of thinly sliced gruyère
  • 4 slices of ham (not too thin)
  • Soft salted butter

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 °F.
  2. Stack up the slices of gruyère and cut to the approximate size of the bread.  Do the same thing with the slices of ham.
  3. Butter up 4 slices of bread and stack up ingredients in the following order: 1 slice of bread (butter side facing up), 1 slice of gruyère, 1 slice of ham, 1 slice of gruyère.
  4. Butter up the last 4 slices of bread and place on top of the last layer of gruyère with butter facing up.  The butter will melt down into the top slice of bread.
  5. Put a sheet of aluminum foil on the center oven rack.
  6. Grill in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.   During the last 1-2 minutes, put the broiler on high (but monitor closely to avoid overcooking).  This will make for a nice color on top and add to the crunch.
  7. Serve on individual plates with a green salad if you wish.

Art of the Home Suggestions:

  1. Cheese lovers: sprinkle shredded gruyère on top of the croque-monsieur before putting in the oven.
  2. Cheese substitution: if you don’t have gruyère, you can use emmental or Swiss cheese.
  3. Oven alternative: croque-monsieur can also be made on the stove top or in a panini press.


    

Comments

  1. Coqueluche says:
    April 28, 2011 at 11:28 am

    Bonjour,

    Vous pouvez également ajouter un peu de sauce béchamel (ou un peu de crème fraîche) avant de recouvrir votre croque-monsieur ce qui le rendra plus moelleux.

    Enfin, si vous ajoutez un oeuf au plat par dessus un “croque-monsieur”, ce dernier devient un “croque-madame”.

    Bon appétit !

  2. Art of the Home says:
    May 3, 2011 at 8:27 am

    Bienvenue et merci pour votre commentaire. Un “croque-madame”, que de bon souvenir et tellement bon, merci pour vos idées recettes!
    For our English speaking readers:
    Coqueluche says: Bonjour. You can also add some béchamel sauce (or a little bit of crème fraîche) before placing the top slice of bread on your croque-monsieur, it will make it very moist. Also, if you add an egg sunny side up, it will become a “croque-madame”. Bon appétit !
    Art of the Home says: Welcome and thank you for your comment. A “croque-madame”, great memories and so good, thank you for your recipe suggestions!

  3. Teri Tripp-Lanciault says:
    August 12, 2012 at 10:36 am

    My experience with croque monsieur was that it was “french toasted”…that is, the sandwich is assembled, then bathed in an egg/milk batter before being lightly fried.

    This, although yummy looking, looks more like a grilled ham and cheese sammich! Just sayin’.

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