Beyond Grilled Cheese: Smoked Salmon Croque-Monsieur, Two Ways

I first heard of a croque-monsieur several years ago watching episodes of Rachel Ray. She is crazy about them and makes a few variations regularly on her shows. Once I tried one, I was pretty crazy about them too. If you like grilled cheese, you will like this.


Traditionally, a croque-monsieur is made with ham, and I generally use veggie ham but I was halfway thru putting this post together when I got my hands on some really good smoked salmon. (This stuff is amazing, truly the best smoked salmon I have ever had and you can get it here).  The light bulb went off, and next thing I knew I was starting from scratch with smoked salmon replacing the ham.

The first time I made croque-monsieurs I must have gotten lucky because we did everything right. Since then I have made some that, while not bad since it is probably impossible to make this sandwich bad, were not as good as they could be.  But along the way to getting it right again I learned a few things. So, let me share the secrets with you.


#1: Use sandwich bread. It normally seems intuitive that better bread equals better sandwich, and most people (like me) consider a fresh loaf to be better then bagged sliced bread. In this case however, sliced bread is the way to go (and according to my french roommate how you will find them made in their birthplace, Paris).


#2: If you are going to make these with cheese on the outside, shred it with a fine grater. This sticks to the bread better and gives a more uniform and thin layer.


#3: If your grilling it with cheese on the outside, grill it beyond the point of just turning golden. Grill it until the cheese gets crispy.  When the cheese is still soft, the whole sanwich just seems kindof mushy and greasy.


Most of the recipes I have found include a few defining components: ham, swiss-style cheese (swiss, gruyere, emmental), and sauce (bechamel or mornay), and the bread.


How these components are combined also has general trends but still a variety of styles. Sauce on the inside and cheese outside. Cheese inside and sauce plus more cheese outside. Sauce and cheese inside, neither outside. So play around with it, and find your way.

After trying a few variations I have settled on two I like in particular, presented in this post: Extra Cheesy and Monte Cristo Style.


The Monte Cristo style is the Rachel Ray version I first encountered, with cheese and sauce inside the sandwiches, then dipped in egg batter and fried.


For the extra cheesy style I decided I like the cheese on the outside AND the inside. Yum, cheese...

Smoked Salmon Croque-Monsieur, Two Ways:

For Both Sandwiches:

Bechamel Sauce

2 servings

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Flour

½ cup Milk

2 pinches Nutmeg

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

salt and pepper

Melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan

Sprinkle flour over melted butter and whisk to combine into roux

Add milk and increase heat to medium-low. Whisk to mix roux into milk so no more think lumps remain.

Add nutmeg and dijon mustard, a pinch each of salt and pepper.

Continue whisking, over medium low to medium heat, until sauce thickens to the consistency of country gravy.

Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Monte Cristo Style,(from Rachel Ray):

(2 sandwiches)

Smoked Salmon, enough for 2 sandwiches (I used about 4 ounces)

4 Slices Bread

1 recipe Bechamel Sauce

1-1/2 to 2 cups grated Gruyere (or other swiss style cheese)

1 egg

1/3 cup Milk

Beat together egg and milk, set aside.

Spread all 4 slices of bread with Bechamel sauce, then sprinkle each with a thin but complete layer of cheese.

Top 2 slices of bread with smoked salmon, then top with remaining two slices of bread, cheese side down.

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, swipe with or melt a little butter in pan.

Dip sandwiches into egg mixture and place in heated skillet. Fry until golden brown, about 5 min.

Flip and fry second side until golden.

Remove from pan, slice in half, and serve immediately.

Extra-Cheesy Croque-Monsieur

(2 sandwiches)

Smoked Salmon, enough for 2 sandwiches (I used about 4 ounces)

4 Slices Bread

1 recipe Bechamel Sauce

3 cups grated Gruyere (or other swiss style cheese)

2 Tbsp Softened Butter

Spread all 4 slices of bread with Bechamel sauce, then sprinkle each with a thin but complete layer of cheese.

Top 2 slices of bread with smoked salmon, then top with remaining two slices of bread, cheese side down.

Butter both sides of each sandwich with softened butter.

Spread a thin but even layer of finely grated cheese on a plate or cutting board. Press sandwich into cheese. Repeat so all 4 sides are covered in a thin layer of cheese.

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, swipe with or melt a little butter in pan.

Place sandwiches into the hot skillet and grill until the cheese later becomes brown and crispy, about 10 minutes.

Flip over to cook opposite side.

Remove from pan, slice in half, and serve immediately.

A Taste of Home: Spiced Up Fried Cheese Curds

Do you know what a cheese curd is?  If you don't, I'm sorry. You should go find them immediately.


Seriously, you can read this later.


They are the little lumps of cheese that have not been shaped into the bricks we usually buy them in.  They are good, better then a slice off one of those bricks, and they are highly appreciated in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area. 


They are good eaten fresh.  They are really good battered and fried, and this is the #1 item at any summertime festival in Minnesota with food vendors.


I have a co-worker also from Minnesota, and thru some favor trading I received a bag of cheese curds this week straight from home.  (For people outside the mid-west, I have also seen them at Trader Joe's.)


I ate a bunch of them fresh, but I could not resist the urge to fry some up.  Especially with a batter recipe right on the bag! I also could not resist the urge to add some cayenne pepper to the batter.


Things were a little tricky and messy at first. I don't fry things very often. And I found the batter recipe on the bag a bit too thin, so I added some more flour to thicken it up. This helped things a lot, and by the second half of my batch they were coming out beautifully.


I'm really happy with the added spices too. It wasn't too much pepper, just enough that you get a little tingle in your throat.  

Spiced Up Fried Cheese Curds

1lb Cheese Curds

2/3 cup Milk

1 cup Flour

¾ tsp Baking Powder

¼ tsp Salt

½ tsp Chilli Powder

2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Vegetable or Canola Oil (for frying)

Heat oil in a pan or deep fryer

Combine flour, milk, baking powder, salt, chilli powder, and cayenne pepper.

Coat cheese curds in mixture.

Fry in hot oil, flipping if needed, until batter is golden and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Eat while still warm. I would recommend ranch if you want to dip them in something, but I enjoyed mine plain.

Cheese Curd

Simple Vegetarian Chili Cheese Dip

My Mom makes this dip when we watch movies.

The first time I made it was in college, my roommate put together a little holiday pot-luck get together at out apartment. But I still had one paper to do before finals were over, and being me I had stayed up the whole night before working on it and was still working on it thru the party- until midnight when it was due. My Mom told me to make this because it is so easy but everyone loves it.

It is incredibly good. Dangerously good. I can only make a half batch about twice a year because I will eat every last bite.

Simple Vegetarian Chili Cheese Dip

8oz Cream Cheese

15oz can Vegetarian Chili

8oz or 2 cups shredded Cheddar, Co-jack, Cheddar-jack (Basically, whatever cheese sounds good to you)

For Serving:

Tortilla Chips

Shredded lettuce (optional)

Spread cream cheese in an even layer across the bottom of pie or square casserole dish

Layer chili over the top

Sprinkle cheese evenly over the chili

Bake at 350º for approx 25min, until cheese is melted and chili is bubbling underneath

Serve with chips. I also like to eat it with shredded lettuce. Because I'm really into health food like that.

I ♥ Macaroni and Cheese

Who doesn't really? Actually, I have met a person or two who doesn't appreciate the stuff and I cannot comprehend it.

I love pasta. I love cheese. I love all kinds of mac and cheese, from the kraft box to the fancy schmancy stuff. Creamy varieties and baked varieties. With vegetables or rpoteind mixed in, or just pasta and cheese. Each version holds a place in my heart (and stomach).

If you agree with me on this topic then you MUST go check this out. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board is assembling a Macaroni & Cheese Blog - 30 days 30 ways with macaroni & cheese.

These 30 recipes have been posted by an awesome assortment of food bloggers, and then span anything your heart could desire. The range of ingredients is really impressive. And I just needed to spread the word.

Anythings Game Now: Cheesy Spicy Mashed Potatoes

I mentioned before that I was not sure what to do with this blog; whether or not I wanted to expand its scope outside pie.

I have been putting together a number of recipes lately for Tasty Kitchen, and one food came along and made the decision for me.

I created these mashed potatoes. They taste amazing, are easy to make, and need to be shared with as many people in the world as I can possibly reach.

They include the two best ingredients on the face of the planet: cayenne pepper and cheese. Mixed in with one of that which I will hereby name The Cream Dyad: sour cream.

I thought of these potatoes, and then thought about them for weeks waiting for the opportunity to make them. They were all I hoped they would be. It is so satisfying to not be disappointed by dreams.

The Potatoes:

The Recipe

(Makes 4 Servings)

1lb Potatoes

4 Tbsp Sour Cream

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1½ cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese – the sharper the better and I recommend orange colored cheese to give potatoes that “yes, I am cheesy” hue.

Milk (a splash may or may not be needed)

Scrub potatoes and peel if desired. Cut into 1″ cubes.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain.

Start mashing potatoes, going until you have achieved a rough lumpy mash using whatever method you

prefer. (I just use a pastry cutter and a fork).

Thoroughly mix in sour cream. If the potatoes are not creamy enough, add a splash of milk and stir to combine.

Stir in cheese, adding it in batches of 1/4-1/2 a cup at a time. Keep stirring until completely and evenly combined.

Add cayenne pepper and stir. (This much pepper will produce a mild level of heat for spice aficionados while still preserving the cheesy flavor, so scale back a bit if this is too much for you.)

Creative leftover idea:

I had a bunch of these to enjoy a second night, and wanted to do something different with them. So I made my favorite mashed potato dish – potato tacos!

I stuffed them into flour tortillas, folded in half and broiled to get the tortillas warm and a bit crispy. Then I topped them with some more sour cream, shredded lettuce, and tomatoes.

It was Yummy. But warning, as with all things cayenne spiced, they got hotter with time.