The NY Times food column “Feed Me” has an article about the Croque Monsieur at Bar Boulud, the upscale “slice of pig heaven” from Daniel Boulud. Actually, most of the article is about the authors summer drinking habits, but eventually he gets around to watching the sous-chef at Bar Boulud make a Croque Monsieur. I don’t agree that it’s perfect summer food as he tries to persuade. It’s got way too much ham and cheese to make it suitable for warm weather. It’s much more likely to induce severe food coma than to encourage that fresh, airy feeling people want in the summertime. For more summery ‘wiches try some cured, smoked or baked fish (salmon, mackerel, etc.) on light bread, without cheese. Or try a bahn mi, full of meat and veggies.
More importantly, they published the recipe! Now you don’t have to pay $17/wich to discover greatness. Naturally, there are no magic ingredients, they use the same ‘ol ham, cheese and bechemel sauce recipe as everyone else (though they use all home-made ingredients, other than milk).
Other Croque Monsieur sites:
- Wikipedia’s Entry: did you know it first appeared in 1910?
- The Paupered Chef: what would you do with 10 lbs of ham?
- MidtownLunch: Tuesday is Croque Monsieur Day!
Now repeat the words “crispy outside and gooey center” 10 times!
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