October 15, 2006

How to Make Béchamel Sauce

Béchamel Sauce slathered on a Croque Monsieur 

Béchamel Sauce, which I used in the previous post is one of the 5 mother or foundational sauces in classic French cooking.  Growing up, I just knew it to be White Sauce, which was the basis for a bunch of recipes I was learning to cook from my mom.  I’ve probably been making one version or another of this sauce since I was around 8 or 9 years old, so the muscle memory to cook it goes pretty deep. 

The recipe below makes a thick consistency so that it works when you broil the Croque Monsieur/Madame.  Other recipes will use a looser, more liquidy preparation.

October 01, 2006

Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame

 Croque Monsieur - Toasted bread with ham, cheese, bechamel

Croque Monsieur

I knew from the first minute I woke up yesterday morning that it was raining outside.  I could hear the sloshy sound of cars traveling on the streets, water spitting out from under their wheels.  What a great excuse to lie around in bed all day, but there were things to do.  Instead, I threw back my fluffy duvet and rolled myself out of bed, literally. 

Stumbling to the kitchen, still a bit bleary-eyed, I opened the fridge.  Hmm, let’s see, there’s ham, cheese, milk, butter, eggs, and I know I have bread in the freezer; these are all the makings for a Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame.  This is one of my favorite all-time, top 5 sandwiches.  Toasted bread, ham, melted cheese, and béchamel, lightly grilled making it melty and gooey.