In his introcution to this week’s Cook the Book recipe, David warns us that these days it is easy to find a bad Croque Monsieur, a.k.a., a grilled ham & cheese sandwich. I suspect that I must have stumbled upon one of the bad ones my first time around because I have only a vague memory of ordering a croque monsieur once, and thinking that once was enough.
I’ll even admit to giving serious thought to changing this recipe around. I mean, I love a good grilled cheese, and I love it even more with a slice of tomato or a bit of avocado… or even a bit of both. So why not make a croque végétarien. Actually, I still think it sounds like a good idea, but this time around I followed instructions. To be more specific, I followed instructions for a croque madame, which is a gilled ham & cheese sandwich topped with a fried egg.
In the end I was rewarded for my decision to follow the rules, because this was absolutely delicious, exactly as written. Granted, it has a few more steps than your average grilled cheese sandwich, but the end result was worth the effort and we both loved this one.
one expat's life 
Totally worth the extra steps. Loved this!
Word. Totally worth it. I’m glad there are those extra steps, though, as they keep me from making it allthetime. 🙂
I SO agree! The more calories, the more difficult the recipe should be.
We loved this one. The recipe we have done this month have not been all that complicate or time consuming. I love your china with the Finnish pattern. We use to have a Villeroy and Boch store in Reykjavík so we would visit Frankfurt every February for the Messe. Too bad we do not have it any more we sold it in 2008. I really like WMF we used to carry that in our store as well.
Wow, good eye. It is indeed Finnish, Iitala in fact. Thank you!
If you end up in Frankfurt again, let me know. Would be fun to meet up.
Maybe you just had a bad tastebud day when you ate your last Croque Monsieur. Proud of you for trying again. About the vegetarian sandwich? One of my friends who reads my blog is in Paris right now. She commented that they are actually selling a vegetarian version of the Croque Monsieur now. As you said, I know that wouldn’t be hard to do but I think it’s illegal. I like your plate pattern also but wouldn’t have realized it was V&B. What is WMF and what is the Messe?
Thanks! It’s actually from Iitala and she was right on the money about it being Finnish. WMF is a popular German brand of cookware and silverware. And if she owned a V&B shop, she would have been coming to one of the many trade fairs (or Messe) here in Frankfurt.
Love the china… seems so very French! And glad you were rewarded for the extra effort. It was so delicious!
I’m all for the idea of a vegetarian version of the Croque Monsieur. The egg on top was cooked to perfection. So much to love about the sandwich and the plating.
There are some bad versions out there, but I am a fan of this sandwich. Looking at this is making me pretty hungry right now 🙂
I agree with everyone on those dishes – love the pattern!
We love this too. The egg on top looks good, but we went for the monsieur. I’ll be making the madame next, great for a weeknight dinner.
Your “Madame” looks beautiful- too bad I cannot tolerate fried eggs, but it would be a nice treat for a brunch. It is a wonderful sandwich – isn’t it?
This recipe is totally worth it, I agree. I’m glad I didn’t riff on this one, either. Though, I’d love a vegetarian version of this sandwich. And judging from the longing looks I was getting from Kevin, a gluten-free, vegan version might be on my radar as well.
Two things are coming up for me while reading everyone’s posts: I need a grill pan and I showed a little too much restraint on the final dusting of cheese. Yours looks so perfectly cheese-covered!
It felt like I worked on my croque madame and accompanying salad for a full hour! That’s deterrent enough for not making this too frequently. That bechamel, though, will stay in the repertoire for a while.
This was absolutely wonderful just as written. Especially the bechamel…I actually thought of skipping it because it was just another step. So glad I followed the recipe!
I love V&B and your china is lovely!
I love a good grilled cheese too. This one was over the top delicious. I can’t justify making it often, but it will make a nice treat sometimes. Yum!
Definitely worth the extra steps for this sandwich! I love the idea of the croque madame and will have to give it a try some time when I’m feeling especially hungry. Your photo looks so appetizing, and I can imaging you digging in immediately after snapping it!
That looks delicious! That egg looks perfect x
That’s an amazing meal!