Croque Monsieur Toast Cups Recipes

CROQUE MONSIEUR

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Butter a baking sheet; set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour, and cook until foaming, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes.
• In another medium saucepan, heat milk over medium heat. Slowly add milk to butter-flour mixture, whisking to prevent lumps from forming. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in 1/2 cup grated cheese, and season with salt, white pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne. Cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and set aside to cool.
• Place 4 pieces of toast on a work surface and spread each piece with a 1/4 cup of sauce. Cover sauce with a slice of cheese, a slice of ham, and another slice of cheese. Top each sandwich with remaining 4 slices of toast. Spread each sandwich with 1/4 cup sauce and sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup grated cheese.
• Place sandwiches on prepared baking sheet, and bake until heated through, about 5 minutes. Preheat broiler; transfer baking sheet to broiler and broil until golden brown and bubbly, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

CROQUE MONSIEUR

Steps:

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring well until the mixture is smooth. Cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened.
• Season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard and nutmeg. Set aside while you make the sandwiches, or make the sauce up to 1 week in advance.
• Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking tray with parchement paper and set aside.
• Spread each bread slice with a layer of béchamel, spreading it all the way to the edges. Place 4 slices of bread, béchamel side up, on prepared baking sheet.
• Top each with a piece of ham, a handful of gruyere, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Place remaining slices of bread on top, béchamel side up, then top with remaining gruyere and parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 425 degrees F for about 5-6 minutes, until cheese is melted, and then turn the oven to broil and broil until the cheese on top is lightly golden, 2-4 minutes.

CROQUE-MONSIEUR

Steps:

• Use 2 tablespoons of the butter to spread over one side of each slice of bread. On three of the slices, spread a layer of Dijon mustard over the butter, and top each with 4 slices of ham. On the other three, spread mayonnaise, and top each one with 2 slices of Swiss cheese. Press ham and cheese sides of sandwiches together.
• In a flat bottomed dish, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, and water until blended. Set aside.
• Heat remaining butter and vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip both sides of each sandwich in the egg mixture, and fry in the oil and butter until browned, flipping to brown on each side.

CROQUE MONSIEUR POCKETS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Mix the gruyere, ham, mustard, nutmeg and cayenne in a bowl until combined. Squeeze the mixture together with your hands to make it compact.
• Brush a baking sheet lightly with vegetable oil. On a floured surface, roll out the dough and fill the dinner pockets (see Cook's Note).
• Place the pockets seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Beat the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl; brush the pockets with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

MINI CROQUE MONSIEUR

Steps:

• Starting from the bottom of the loaf, slice bread horizontally into six 1/2-inch-thick rectangles (about 4-by-8 1/4-inches each); discard rounded top. Toast each bread slice in a toaster until pale gold.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, continuing to whisk. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan. Let bechamel cool completely. Season with salt and pepper. Divide between 2 bowls.
• Spread half the bechamel from 1 bowl on 1 slice of bread. Top with 2 slices ham and 3 slices Gruyere. Top with 1 slice of bread, then spread remaining bechamel from bowl over top. Set sandwich aside. Repeat layering with ham and Gruyere, and top with 1 slice of bread. Repeat with remaining bowl of bechamel, bread slices, ham, and Gruyere. Wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Trim crusts from sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in half lengthwise, then crosswise 5 times to form 10 rectangles from each. Skewer each sandwich. Transfer to a baking sheet and warm in oven until cheese melts, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately.

DECADENT CROQUE MONSIEUR

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk in flour until blended but not colored, about 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
• Assemble sandwiches: Place all 8 bread slices on a work surface in a single layer. Spread each slice evenly to the edges with Bechamel sauce; all the sauce may not be needed. Divide ham evenly between 4 of the bread slices, trimming if necessary so it is within 1/2 inch from the edges. Top all 8 slices with equal amounts of Gruyere cheese, spreading it evenly to within 1/4 inch of the edges.
• Lift the 4 bread slices with sauce and cheese and keeping the cheese facing up, place on top of the slices layered with ham. Transfer sandwiches to the prepared sheet pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheese topping is melted and golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

FOOT-LONG CROQUE MONSIEUR

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a saucepan, heat milk over medium heat for a few minutes until hot.
• In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk to combine, cooking for 2 minutes and stirring occasionally.
• Add 1 tbsp of thyme and slowly whisk in the milk.
• Simmer the bechamel sauce for 2 more minutes while whisking. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix the 3 cheeses together in a bowl.
• Slice loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Fill with mustard, ham and half of the cheese mixture. Place on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until the cheese is melted.
• Preheat the broiler. Spread the bechamel sauce on top of the sandwich and sprinkle over the leftover cheese mixture. Broil until golden-brown, about 6 minutes.
• Garnish with the remaining thyme.

BAKED CROQUE MONSIEUR

Steps:

• Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• Remove the crust from the bread, if you wish. Place them into the greased baking dish, cutting slices in half, as necessary, to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
• Top with half of the cheese, the ham, sliced onion, and the remaining cheese; and the remaining bread.
• Press the sandwiches together.
• Beat the eggs, milk and seasoning together. Pour slowly over the bread.
• Cover and place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
• About 1 hour before serving, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Mix the breadcrumbs with the melted butter and grated cheese. Sprinkle over the sandwiches.
• Bake for 42 to 48 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the eggs set.
• Remove from the oven and allow to rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving.