Croque Renee

More sandwiches I’m afraid. Yes, I’m still going through my little sandwich-craving phase, so please bear with me.

For lunch today, I made my all-time favorite sandwich…

When I visited Lourdes, France many years ago, it was off-season. This meant that for a small French town like Lourdes, which caters almost exclusively to tourists and Catholic pilgrims, just about everything was shut down. Only a tiny handful of shops, cafes and bistros were open. Hardly any restaurants were open. And the cafes and bistros that were opened served severely streamlined menus. It was wintry and cold, and there were only limited fresh items on offer. So, for the few days that I was there, I practically subsisted on soups and either Croque Monsieurs or Croque Madames. Yet, I was one happy camper. In fact, I couldn’t get enough of these deliciously crunchy (and thus its name: croque), warm, slightly gooey, grilled sandwiches. And I was quite contented to live on this fairly one dimensional diet for those few days.

Oh how I loved these crispy and heart-warming sandwiches! Even after copious amounts of ham and cheese, or ham, cheese and egg toasted sandwiches, the adoration did not fade. And, a decade on, these sandwiches still remain one of my firm favorites, if not my favorite.

Whenever I want a light meal or am just craving a sandwich (like today), almost inevitably this is what I would make for myself. Of course, my version has evolved to incorporate a couple of elements that I like, and so I guess it can’t really accurately be called a croque monsieur or a croque madame. Perhaps it should then be called (with tongue firmly in cheek) Croque Renee?

My memories of the croque monsieurs and croque madames that I enjoyed in France have now been clouded by my experiences of the various other versions of these simple yet delicious sandwiches that I have tasted over the years, in various bistros, in different countries. If I recall correctly, in France, a croque monsieur is a simple cheese and ham sandwich either heated under a broiler or sautéed in a little butter. While a croque madame is simply a croque monsieur topped with a fried egg (usually sunny-side-up).

Here’s a great little "how-to" cartoon on how to make a croque monsieur.

However, I have tasted versions that were dipped in egg before being sautéed in butter, then topped with another egg, and this was in turn topped with either mornay or béchamel sauce! Yikes! Only in America, I guess.

Anyway, here is my version…

• Fry an egg in a tiny bit of butter. Rather than sunny-side-up, I prefer it over-easy with a suitably runny yolk. (I find it quite hard to eat a fried egg with a hard yolk, but that’s just me.) Set aside.

• Take two slices of lightmeal (i.e. more grain than white, but finer textured than wholegrain – don’t you just love these marketers?) and very lightly butter on one side.

• Flip the bread over, and spread or squeeze a liberal amount of honey mustard on the unbuttered sides of both pieces of bread.

• On one piece of bread, on top of the mustard, goes a big slice (folded or cut in half) of either smoked or roasted turkey breast (my preferred meat, but I do sometimes use various types of ham).

• Next, on goes a slice of cheese - usually Swiss, Emmental or Cheddar; or if I’m looking for a suitably stretchy and gooey experience, Mozzarella; or basically whatever cheese is in the fridge, even the processed kind, fresh out of their individual plastic pockets.

• If I’m feeling more liberal with my waistline, I use two pieces of cheese, on either side of the turkey breast deli slice.

• Slide this piece of bread (with the turkey and cheese toppings), butter side down, onto a non-stick frying pan that has been heating up on a low flame. I prefer to do the transfer from plate to pan at this stage, without the egg, to minimize the risk of injury to my precious runny yolk! Also, it minimizes the time the egg spends on the heat, so the yolk won’t get overcooked.

• As this piece of bread becomes nicely toasted and golden brown, carefully slide the egg onto the sandwich. Top with the remaining piece of bread, mustard side down.

• [For me, the egg always goes inside the sandwich, rather than the traditional croque madame style of going on top of the finished sandwich – purely for a practical reason. I’m a firm believer in the “sandwiches must be eaten with the fingers” school of thought. I mean, seriously, sandwiches are finger foods, and just taste so much better, in my opinion, when eaten with the hands. It just doesn’t feel quite right eating a sandwich with a knife and fork. And I haven’t been able to figure out the logistics of eating, by hand, a sandwich that has an egg, complete with a runny yolk, right where my fingers are supposed to go to hold the sandwich.]

• As gently as possible, flip the sandwich over to toast the other piece of bread. As soon as that too is golden brown, and the cheese is nicely melted, remove from the heat immediately.

• Cut sandwich in half diagonally. Watch lovely thick golden egg yolk ooze out and intermingle with gooey melted cheese. Sink teeth into sandwich. Close eyes and allow taste buds to savor each and every flavor and texture as they explode in the mouth.

This sandwich has just about everything I love in a sandwich. It is warm (give me a warm sandwich over a cold sandwich anytime). It is crispy. It is cheesy. It has egg in it. It has mustard in it. It has enough of the “goo” factor…

It is a piece of sandwich heaven in under 10 minutes.

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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