Croque Monsieurs and "It's Complicated"

 I still remember the first time I saw the movie "It's Complicated" back when it was in the movie theaters in December of 2009. In the film, Meryl Streep plays Jane Adler who is a very passionate cook and owns her own Bakery/Bistro type establishment. In one scene, she's making dinner for herself and her architect Adam, played by Steve Martin, and I see her put something delicious looking onto their plates. When Adam comments how delicious they look, Jane tells him they are Croque Monsieurs. My first thought was, "Holy cow I don't know what that is but I want to make one!" With a little research I found that a Croque Monsieur is a traditional French sandwich with ham and Dijon mustard that's smothered with a cheese sauce and then broiled until sinfully delicious. I've made a few variations to the classic recipe and I think I've made this sandwich even better!

About ¾ of a pound good quality lunch meat ham (Off the bone ham or something similar)
¼ of a pound shredded Swiss cheese

¼ of a pound shredded sharp Cheddar

1½ cups of warm Half and Half

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of flour

1 shallot finely diced

Black pepper and Kosher Salt

Pinch of Nutmeg

Italian Bread cut into long thin slices or any regular sandwich bread of your choice

Dijon Mustard

Turn your oven onto broil

Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan over medium low heat. Add the diced shallot and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes stirring occasionally. Meanwhile in another sauce pan, heat the half and half over very low heat. It doesn’t need to be scalding hot, we are just heating it through to take the chill off. You could also measure out the half and half, place into a heat proof mug or bowl and heat in the microwave. Once the shallot has cooked, add the flour to the pan and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. What we are doing here is making a roux. It’s a classic and essential technique to know when making many sauces and gravies as this step is what allows the sauce to thicken. The roux should look similar to what I have pictured below.

 

All at once, add the warmed half and half into the pot that we've made our roux in and mix together. Add the nutmeg, salt, pepper, and the cheese to the sauce and continue to mix everything together until the cheese has melted and created our thick and creamy cheese sauce for our sandwiches. Taste your cheese sauce for seasonings and adjust to your pallets liking.

Next, place your slices of bread on a cookie sheet and carefully toast them under the broiler - about 4 minutes on each side or just until they have that ideal golden brown color. On one side of each slice of bread, spread on the Dijon mustard and then layer with a few slices of ham. Pour a little bit, or a lot, of the cheese sauce directly over the ham and then top with another slice of bread. Finally, pour more cheese sauce over top the entire sandwich and repeat. You should get between 6 to 8 sandwiches depending on the size of bread. If you have any cheese sauce leftover, either do what I do and just go overboard on your sandwiches or save it for dinner the next night because it's great over steamed cauliflower or broccoli. 

 

Once the sandwiches are assembled, place them under the broiler for about 5 minutes until the cheese sauce on top starts to bubble and gets brown in spots. Keep a watchful eye on the sandwiches however, we don't want them to burn! I like to serve these Croque Monsieurs with either a nice salad or with just some salty potato chips and a crispy dill pickle! Now as I mentioned before I was inspired to make this dish from the movie "It's Complicated" so of course that's our movie of the week.

Writer/Director Nancy Meyer's delivered us another great romantic comedy with her most recent film, "It's Complicated". Meryl Streep plays Jane Adler, a middle aged divorced mother of three who after 10 years of being separated with her ex-husband Jake (Alec Baldwin) has finally gotten some balance back into her life. Owner of a successful bakery and with plans to finally put an addition onto her house, Jane has a lot going for her. Still, with all her children now moved out of the house she still finds herself lonely. After all, Jake has been remarried for quite some time to a younger woman and Jane has barely had any love interests at all since the divorce.

While in New York City for their son's graduation, Jane and Jake find themselves together in the hotel restaurant sharing a meal together for the first time since their divorce. A few drinks and dances later, the previously married couple discover that the past might not be dead and buried after all. Jake now finds himself having an affair with his ex-wife while Jane struggles with her conscience on if she can continue playing the role of "The other woman". Add on top of that the fact that Jane and her architect Adam (Steve Martin) share a mutual attraction for one another, Jane's situation is a complicated one to say the least. 

"It's Complicated" is really a funny and enjoyable film from start to finish. I found myself laughing out loud quite often the first time I saw the movie and it continues to rank as one of my favorites. Streep, Martin, and Baldwin all give some of their best comedic performances in years. "The Office" star John Krasinski also gives a great performance playing the role of the future son-in-law who happens to see Jane and Jake sneaking off to a hotel together. If you're looking for a great film to watch that will deliver more than a few good laughs, check out "It's Complicated".