Today on the menu "Croque monsieur"...

Day two of my challenge and today I am going to share my recipe of "croque monsieur". Many of us would say that this dish stands for France, we all know it from movies (e.g. It´s complicated with Meryl Streep), but there are also enough people saying that the french people did not invent this dish at all. After all we are speaking about  ham and cheese sandwich here and how can this be french indeed?

In fact many countries have a "ham and cheese sandwich" existing in their menus, the basis is always the same there is white bread, ham, cheese and a grill, the preparation however is different and this is probably what makes the ham and cheese sandwich in Spain taste different as in England....There are some fine extras to croque monsieur, which makes the sandwich stand out from the rest of ham and cheese sandwiches, if you would ask me. We usually would not consider to add any mustard or bechamel to it, french people would and this is exactly the reasons why this sandwich is so french and delicious. So again, my opinion on the whole who did and who did not invent it is...it might be indeed that the french people did not invent the"ham and cheese" sandwich, but they modified it to an "excellence" and I am greatful for this!!!

I did some twist to the sandwiches myself...to make it taste even more special. Serve a small green salad to it and a glass of red wine and your meal is complete. Try it...you will love it.

Croque monsieur

• white bread
• ham
• cheese (that is melting easily)
• butter
• mustard
• flour
• milk
• glove garlic
• vegetable broth (powder or cubes)

Preheat the oven to 200 C, grill function. Cut the bread in slices, not too thin, spread a thin layer of butter (both sides) and grill is for couple of minutes in a frying pan...not to much, as you will grill the sandwich later in the oven too. Let the grilled bread slices cool on the cooling rack for a minute, take the garlic glove and rub it over the bread (my small twist on the sandwich, to get fine taste of garlic). 

Prepare the bechamel sauce: in a pan melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter, once melted add 1-2 tablespoons of flour, mix well. Add vegetable broth powder, as much as you like, mix well. Now add a little bit of milk and steer well, you might get a dough clump at first...do not worry, add additional milk and steer till all combined. Continue with the process till you will get a silky, not to thin and not to thick sauce.

Put a slice of ham and cheese on the grilled bread slice and put it for 1 minute into the oven, till the cheese is melted. Put a good dollop of mustard on the other bread slice and put it on the bread slice with ham and cheese (face down). Finally put some spoons of bechamel sauce and grill for additional couple of minutes, till the sauce starts to bubble.

Serve immediately with some green salad and a glass of red wine. Bon appettite!!!

Enjoy!