Cheese on Toast
A student classic, French style…
Is there anyone out there who doesn’t like cheese on toast? It’s one of the simplest snacks there is, quick to make and potentially something quite special.
Variations abound, we’ve got Welsh rarebit, the French have croque-monsieur and it is this which is my favourite. Once again a croque-monsieur is a recipe open to debate, some use white sauce (bechamel) others cheese sauce (mornay), if you’re from the Auvergne then croque auvergnat is made with their wonderful blue cheese, add tomatoes to the basic version and it becomes croque provencale and so on.
My particular favourite is a version known as croque-madam which is served with a fried egg. You can use whatever bread you want, I use brioche thickly sliced to make a more substantial snack. A layer of emmental or gruyere goes on followed by a decent slice or two of ham or a good cured ham such as prosciutto, bayonne or parma. Another layer of cheese is added then the sandwich is closed with the remaining slice.
Crack an egg in a bowl and stir in some of the grated cheese (parmesan is another good option at this point) Roll the sandwich in the cheesy egg mix and leave for a couple of minutes so that the bread can absorb the egg. Heat a frying pan with two parts oil to one part butter then brown the sandwich on both sides, finish in a hot oven until the cheese has melted then top with a fried egg.
A crisp green salad and a glass of cold white is a virtual must.
Miles,
That sounds great to me …. I must check the levels of my caved aged gruyere.
Cid
March 16, 2008 @ 11:36 am
Miles,
This looks very tasty and suitable for a lunch, brunch or supper. It is now added to my ‘to do’ list. A bottle of Rivaner is on stand by.
Elsie
March 16, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
God that looks good - thanks for making me feel hungry !
March 16, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
Hello All,
It really is very tasty, it is important that the bread isn’t soggy and (as my French pastry chef told me) there is sufficient ham, the first one I made only had one slice and he is right, it’s not enough.
March 16, 2008 @ 7:27 pm