French croque madam and croque monsieur sandwiches. The famous "Croc Monsieur": recipe and methods for making a Croque Monsieur sandwich in the oven

02.07.2023 Bakery

The French are extremely polite people, therefore, when ordering such a sandwich for breakfast, they turned to the waiter: “Croc, monsieur,” and when he brought a snack, he also offered with the words: “Croc, monsieur.” And so the name stuck to the crispy sandwich.

Croque Madame, on the other hand, appeared thanks to the indispensable addition to this sandwich in the form of fried eggs, reminiscent of a women's hat of those times.
Let's try these very tasty sandwiches, they are worth it!

Ingredients for 2 servings: 150 g ham, 150 g cheese, 4 slices of white sandwich bread, 3 tsp. French (Dijon) mustard, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 1 egg.

For the bechamel sauce: 1 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. milk, a pinch of pepper, nutmeg and thyme, salt to taste.

Spread slices of bread on one side with Dijon mustard. Unlike our mustard, it is mild in taste with a special aroma.

Place two mustard slices on a greased baking sheet. I use olive oil as it gives a very tender crust.

Sprinkle the slices with cheese.

We put very thin slices of ham on the cheese.

Sprinkle the ham again with cheese.

Cover the filling with the remaining slices of mustard and brush the bread with olive oil on top. We send it to the oven, heated to 180 degrees, so that the sandwiches are slightly browned. However, if desired, you can fry in a roaster or on both sides in a pan.

While the sandwiches are browning, prepare the bechamel sauce with spices. First melt the butter in a frying pan.

Pour in the flour and begin to quickly stir in a circular motion until the flour becomes creamy.

Pour in the milk, without stopping stirring, add salt, wait until the mass thickens, add pepper, nutmeg and ground thyme, bring to readiness.

Spread the browned sandwiches on top with sauce and sprinkle with cheese again, send it back to the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

Now it remains to put all this on lettuce leaves, sprinkle with herbs, and add croque madam with a fried fried egg. You can't even imagine how delicious it is! The tender crunch of the toast along with the juicy filling is impossible to put into words.

By the way, the popularity of this French dish is so high that in addition to the classic version with cheese and ham, many versions have appeared: with salmon slices, with tomatoes, with sausage and other ingredients. For example, I was very attracted by the sweet version, as soon as I cook it, I will definitely share it.

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French cuisine is famous with original cold appetizers. Many of them eventually gained popularity in other countries of the world. Take, for example, a very tasty Croque Monsieur sandwich. The recipe for its preparation is interesting and at the same time quite simple. In addition, the dish itself also has a speaking name. After all, "crunch" in French means "crunch". This is the whole point of the product itself. It is intended for men who like to crunch with taste.

Sandwich from the oven

In many French families, "Croc Monsieur" is often prepared for a quick snack. The recipe for this dish is unique in that an ordinary white and ham sandwich is baked with the addition of fragrant mornay sauce. For cooking, you will need the following components:

white bread (you can take a loaf), ham and Gruyère cheese.

For 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 the preparation of the sauce:

  1. First you need to grind the cheese on a grater.
  2. Heat the oil in a saucepan and, adding flour to it, turn it into a homogeneous gruel with constant stirring. The French call this mixture "roux".
  3. Add the cream to the saucepan and stir everything well so that there are no lumps. The resulting mass must be brought to a boil over low heat.
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and wait while stirring until all the cheese is melted. The sauce is ready.
  5. Now you can go directly to the sandwich. To do this, a piece of bread should be smeared with butter on one side. Gently place a slice of ham and grated cheese on top. Cover the food with the second piece of bread.
  6. Coat the workpiece with oil from the outside, and then lay it on a baking sheet and send it to the oven for 5-6 minutes, preheating the latter to 190 degrees.
  7. Turn the product with the fried side up and pour over it with the prepared sauce. Place it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

It turns out fragrant and very tasty "Croc Monsieur". The recipe is good because the sandwich is prepared very quickly. This is very handy when time for a snack is limited.

Sandwich in a pan

In the absence of an oven, you can also cook Croque Monsieur. The recipe with a photo of the finished sandwich already makes you want to start the cooking process as soon as possible. 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 Worcestershire 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:

  1. First, melt 40 grams of butter in a frying pan.
  2. Add flour and stir well.
  3. Slowly add milk and cook the resulting mass over low heat for about 3 minutes.
  4. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt, nutmeg and thyme.
  5. Spread 4 slices of bread on one side with Dijon mustard.
  6. Sprinkle with cheese and place a slice of ham on top. Cover with the remaining slices of bread.
  7. Sandwiches fry in oil in a pan on one side.
  8. Turn the blanks over, pour the fried crust with fresh sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
  9. Keep the sandwiches in the pan for a few more seconds so that their tops can brown.

Despite its simplicity, this design looks very appetizing.

The Secret of the Classic

You can cook "Croc Monsieur" in different ways. The classic recipe is the easiest to use, since it requires a minimum set of ingredients to work. The sauce for this option is not used at all. This makes the job much easier. You only need:

for 4 slices of loaf (bread) 2 lettuce leaves, 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 must be done in the following order:

  1. Fry all slices of bread on one side until crispy in a pan.
  2. Put the cheese on 2 pieces and wait until it melts. To do this, it is better to cover the pan with a lid.
  3. Put ham, greens, lettuce on the cheese and cover with all the remaining slices of bread. Wait another 30 seconds. This time will be enough.

Ready sandwich can be served immediately with hot tea or coffee. By the way, this dish is not customary to eat with your hands. The French in this case always use cutlery (fork and knife).

"Croc Provencal"

There are several options for making Croque Monsieur sandwiches. Recipes differ in the composition of the layer located between two pieces of bread. It doesn't have to be cheese and ham. 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);
  • provencal (with tomatoes).

For example, consider how the last option is prepared. It most closely resembles the original itself. The following ingredients are used to make this sandwich:

slices of bread (loaf), ham, butter, cheese and tomatoes.

How to make this sandwich:

  1. Cut off the crusts on all sides of the bread.
  2. Put cheese, ham and tomato circle on one slice.
  3. Cover everything with a second piece of bread.
  4. Brush the outer parts of the bread with oil and then fry using an oven or a frying pan.

Sometimes, as a simplified option, you can take a regular sandwich maker. It remains only to put slices of bread with a layer in a mold and clamp between the plates. It takes a matter of seconds to bake. It is very convenient to resort to this method in the morning, when there is very little time to prepare breakfast.

Croque-monsieur is a famous French hot sandwich: croquer means "crunch", monsieur - "master". Croque-madame is the same hot sandwich served with a fried egg on top. That is, croque-monsieur is a classic French sandwich with ham, cheese and bechamel sauce. Croque Madame is a sandwich with ham, cheese, béchamel sauce and a fried egg.

Bechamel sauce - how to cook

An important ingredient in croque madame and croque monsieur is French béchamel sauce. To prepare it, you will need the ingredients:

  • 550 ml milk
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • A pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper (white or black)
  • A pinch of ground nutmeg

Melt butter in a frying pan and add flour. Fry for three minutes, stirring constantly. Then add milk, reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly (so that there are no lumps in the sauce). The longer you keep the sauce on the fire, the thicker it will get. Strain the finished sauce, add salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Sandwich croque-monsieur - how to cook

Making a croque-monsieur sandwich, if you've already made the sauce, is pretty easy. To do this, you will need ingredients (designed for two sandwiches):

  • 4 slices of bread
  • 2 pieces of ham (you can use 4 - then each sandwich will have not one piece of ham, but two)
  • 4 slices hard cheese (Gruyère, Emmental, Maasdam or Cheddar)
  • Butter
  • Olive oil
  • Salt, black pepper

Brush slices of bread with butter and fry in a dry frying pan until golden brown on both sides. Then reduce the heat, put a slice of cheese on each slice of bread and cover the pan with a lid so that the cheese is slightly melted. If needed, add a little olive oil to the pan. Then put a slice of ham on two slices of bread and cover with a second slice of bread. Pour the sauce over the finished sandwich and it's ready to serve.


Sandwich croque madam - how to cook

The croque madame sandwich is prepared in exactly the same way as the croque monsieur, plus a fried egg. So, while the sandwich is browning in one pan, you need to fry the fried egg in the second pan. The egg is fried on one side, while it is important that the scrambled eggs are no larger in size than the bread, and that the yolk remains intact. Put the fried eggs on a sandwich, pour over the sauce and you can serve. Bon appetit!

Other ways to make a sandwich

Grease one slice of bread with butter, the second with mustard. Place the ham and cheese on the first slice of bread, trim the sides of the ham and cheese. Then brown the sandwich in a pan with olive oil on both sides.

Grated hard cheese can be added to the sauce - the sauce should turn out like very thick sour cream. Fry slices of bread in a frying pan on one side, grease the other side (not fried) with sauce, put ham on top and cover with another piece of bread.

The finished sandwich can be sprinkled with grated hard cheese and put in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

Also, the finished sandwich can be sprinkled with herbs or served with a leaf of green salad.

Traditionally, French Gruyère is used for croque madame and croque monsieur, but maasdam, cheddar, or other hard cheeses can be substituted. Bon appetit!


Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame - French Sandwiches

French breakfast with Croque Monsieur

Something strong nostalgia for France today ...... I want to give you a recipe for a very common French dish that is often served there for breakfast .. It is called Croque Madame or Croque Monsieur. These gentlemen Crocs are delicious French sandwiches (local fast food) that are prepared according to the same recipe. With a small but significant difference.

What is the difference between Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur

The photo of this French breakfast was taken by my own hand near Freedom Square))) I actually ordered Croque Madame .. and therefore 2 eggs should have appeared on the sandwich, that is, 2 yolk eyes))) - this is Croc Madame .. like - two breasts)) And when there is one egg in a scrambled egg on a sandwich - this is Crock-Monsieur))) Then the Gauls cheated me)))

Sandwich Croque Monsieur

What you need for Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame sandwiches

for 2 servings

  • 4 slices of rich white bread;
  • 3-4 tablespoons of butter;
  • 6 thin slices of cheese;
  • 2 thin pieces of ham or ham;
  • 2 (for Monsieur) or 4 eggs (for Madame);
  • Salt and herbs.

How to cook Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame

Collect 2 Sandwiches

  • Spread each piece of bread with a thin layer of butter (on one side) and put a piece of cheese on the butter. Then put 1 piece of ham on 2 slices of bread. Cover them with the remaining two slices of bread (butter and cheese side down) and press lightly.

That is, between the pieces of bread you have layers of butter and cheese, striving towards each other. And at the meeting point - the border, a layer of a piece of ham. Layers: bread, butter, cheese, ham, cheese, butter, bread.

Bake sandwiches in the oven

  • Put the sandwiches on a wire rack and bake in an oven preheated to 220 degrees C until the bread turns golden.
  • Flip the sandwich over to the other side. Top with a slice of cheese. And bake another 3-4 minutes.

Fry the top of Croque Monsieur or Madame

In the remaining butter, fry 2 fried eggs (from 1 or 2 eggs, depending on your fantasies. Culinary).

Pair a hot sandwich with scrambled eggs in Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame

  • Salt one-eyed or lady's fried eggs and put on ready-made sandwiches. Sprinkle with herbs on top.

Bon appetit!

Croque Madame is one of the most famous sandwiches in the world. This crispy (fr. croquer - crunch) sandwich with cheese and ham is a classic breakfast in France.

This breakfast option got into my menu straight from the movie "Simple Complexities", where Meryl Streep won the hearts of men by preparing such a sandwich for them.

There are two options for a sandwich: "Croc Madame" and "Croc Monsieur". They differ only in that the "madame" is decorated with an egg on top. Fried eggs resemble a lady's hat, hence the name.

INGREDIENTS:
for 2 servings

Bread - 4 pieces
Ham - 4 pieces
Cheese - 150 gr
Eggs - 1 pc.
Butter - to taste
Mustard - to taste

For the bechamel sauce:

Butter - 30 gr
Flour - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/3 cup

Croc, like all French cuisine, rests on two elephants: butter and Bechamel sauce. Nothing will work without them.

First I cook Bechamel. Melt 30 g of butter in a saucepan. I add a spoonful of flour and quickly stir with a whisk so that there are no lumps.

I pour in some milk. I continue to work with a whisk. The sauce should be smooth, with the consistency of sour cream.

All this time, the fire should be minimal. You need to be gentler with Bechamel, otherwise he will run away and splatter the ceiling in the kitchen)

That's it, the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat, add salt, black pepper and 50 grams of grated cheese. I stir until smooth. The cheese will spread over the sauce and make it lovely.

For Crocs, it is convenient to use square bread for sandwiches. But an ordinary loaf will do. You need 2 pieces of any bread for 1 serving. Brush slices of bread with butter and mustard on one side.

Two pieces of bread will become lids, the other two will become the base.

On the base I put grated cheese, slices of ham and cheese again.

I close with a lid. The oily side should be inside, closer to the cheese.

Sending Crocs to the oven. the cheese should melt and the bread should be golden brown and crispy. It takes me 5-7 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees.

I spread a generous portion of Bechamel sauce on the fried Crocs. Back in the oven to firm up the sauce. It's another 5 minutes.