Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> Get THIS, Bubba Vic! Today I had a Croq Madame with a cuppa capuccino!
> Hah!!

That's better. Was this the only (semi)French meal you had? I hope it
was not in some department store again, or, if it was, at least in the
café on the fifth floor of La Samaritaine, with great views.

Anyway, here, for replication at home, is a croque-monsieur recipe, with
instructions on how to turn it into a croque-madame or a
croque-Curnonsky. The recipe is from _Bistro Cooking_ by Patricia
Wells.

Bubba

Croque-Monsieur
Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich

3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz; 45 g) unsalted butter
12 thin slices homemade _pain de mie_ (sandwich loaf -- VS)
7 ounces (200 g) or 6 thin slices best-quality ham, cut to fit bread
4 1/2 ounces (140 g) Gruyère cheese, grated

1. Preheat the broiler

2. Butter the slices of bread on one side. Place one slice of ham on 6
of the buttered sides, and cover with the remaining bread slices,
buttered side out.

3. Place the sandwiches under the broiler, and grill on the buttered
side until golden. Remove the sandwiches, turn, and cover each with
grated Gruyère. Return to the broiler and grill until the cheese is
bubbling and golden.

Yield: 6 sandwiches

Note: To transform a croque-monsieur into a croque-madame, grill a
croque-monsieur until it is almost bubbling and golden, then cut a small
round out of the top piece of cheese-covered bread, exposing the ham.
Reserve the round. Break a small egg into the hole and place under the
broiler for 2 or 3 more minutes. To serve, top the egg with the
cheese-covered round.

One French cookbook even offers a recipe for a sandwich named after the
food critic Curnonsky. To prepare a croque-Curnonsky, blend equal
amounts of butter and Roquefort cheese, spread on thin slices of pain de
mie, top with ham and another slice of bread, and grill on both sides.