Croque Monsieur (say Croak Mess-yer)

Croque Monsieur is a quintessentially French dish that’s easy to make . Nearly every sidewalk cafe serves it, and it’s the perfect snack to serve your book club. In Paris it would be served with cafe au lait, which is just an equal mixture of hot coffee and hot milk.

If you were looking for typical German cafe food to serve with it, you could try Spetzie. It’s a drink I had all the time when I lived in Germany. It’s an equal mix of cold orange juice and coke. Surprisingly tasty after a hot day spent trying to catch a train.

To serve 6 people you will need:

12 slices of french bread

12 slices of cheese–Gruyere is the most commonly used kind but Swiss works fine, too.

6 slices of ham–smoked turkey is also good

4 eggs

French mustard, butter, a fork or whisk, a spatula or pancake turner, and a frying pan.

Directions

1. Spread mustard on one side of each piece of bread.

2. Make sandwiches in this order: bread, mustard, cheese, meat, cheese, mustard, bread.

3. Break the eggs onto a plate and scramble them. Set the sandwich in the egg so that the bread soaks up the egg. Turn it over so it soaks up some egg on both sides.

4. Melt some butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Lift the sandwich from the egg mixture and fry it in the butter for 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown Flip it over and cook on the other side until the cheese is nice and melty. Serve at once.

*Photo Credit Croque Monsieur by Michael Brewer / CC-BY-2.5