For the best result, use a good-quality sliced white bread. This is often difficult to find in a supermarket, so buy a loaf from a bakery and slice it yourself. We use ‘pain de mie’, a white loaf made with milk and butter.
butter
2 slices of bread
small quantity of Béchamel Sauce (see below)
1 slice ham
Dijon mustard
grated Emmental cheese
Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly butter one side of one slice of bread and place it, buttered side down, on an oven tray.
Spread the side facing up with a thin layer of béchamel sauce and place a slice of ham on the béchamel. Spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on the ham.
Sprinkle with cheese and put the other slice of bread on top. Gently press together. Spread more béchamel on top of the bread, and sprinkle with more cheese.
Bake until both sides are golden and the edges are looking crunchy. Eat at once.
My usual addition to this basic white sauce is a good-quality grated cheese — French Emmental, Comté, Beaufort or Swiss Gruyère. It can be transformed into many other sauces by making a few variations.
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp plain flour
1 cup warm milk
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
Melt the butter in a pot over a low heat. Add the flour, whisking it in, and cook for 1–2 minutes. Make sure the mixture foams gently and doesn’t brown.
Take the pot off the heat and gradually add some of the milk. Whisk quickly to avoid lumps. Return the pot to the stove. Keep whisking and adding milk. If it gets lumpy, don’t worry — just take the pot off the heat and give the sauce a really good whisk, particularly around the edges.
Once you’ve added all the milk, simmer the sauce for a few minutes on a very low heat. Use a simmer mat if necessary.
Season with salt and pepper and, if you like, a little freshly grated nutmeg.
We often serve mini Croques Monsieur as nibbles with a drink. Simply cut off the crusts and cut each Croque Monsieur in four.