I’m continuing my recipe series that I call, A Man, A Ham, & A Plan. I bought a 5 1/2lb thin cut carver ham and I wanted to see how many dishes I could create with it. I was able to make 6 different dishes, each serving at least four. This sixth and last dish is a croque-monsieur, a tasty sandwich with ham, dijon, béchamel sauce and gruyere cheese . Check my website and my YouTube channel for the rest!
Croque Monsieur
makes 4 sandwiches
Ingredients
4 tbl Butter
1/4 cu All Purpose Flour
1 3/4 cu Whole Milk
1 tsp Ground Mustard
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cu Grated Parmesan
8 slices White Bread, thicker cut if possible
1/2 lb Ham, medium sliced
1 1/2 cu greated Gruyere Cheese, about 3 1/2 ounces
Additional Dijon Mustard
Method
Make the béchamel cheese sauce: Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Once butter starts to sizzle, add flour and stir for about a minute. Add milk and continue to stir until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of Dijon, nutmeg, salt and parmesan. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spread a thin layer of Dijon on each slice of bread. Place four slices on a baking sheet. Top each with béchamel sauce. Cover sauce with ham. Dividd the cheese into 8 portions and sprinkle on portion on top of each sandwich. Top each sandwich with the remaining slices of bread, mustard side down. Top each slice with béchamel sauce and then sprinkle remaining gruyere on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbling on top.