Elevated Weeknight Sandwiches

I have a problem. Just like Oprah, I LOVE bread. I love freshly baked loaves of sourdough, French baguettes, nutty 12-grain loaves and even crumpets. I cannot resist sweet breakfast bread loaves like cinnamon swirl or cranberry nut. If I enter a grocery store and that freshly-baked-bread smell hits my nose, I am a goner.

I set myself up for a failure of self-control last week. I had to give blood for a routine doctor visit, and it was a fasting blood draw. Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I would swing by Trader Joe’s.

Having not had proper breakfast, I fell hard for the bread isle. It is the first thing you see past the flowers, after all. I got a lovely loaf of artisan sourdough and then a loaf of Maple Streusel Bread caught my eye. I found other wonderful goodies to fill my cart as well.

Incidentally, Trader Joe’s is also dangerously close to one of our favorite doughnut shops, Duck Donuts. So, naturally I needed to pick up some of those, too.

You see where this was going – I suddenly had an over abundance of delectable carbohydrates that had to be eaten before they were past their prime.

The doughnuts were breakfast treats for a day or 2, and the Maple Streusel Bread was in danger of neglect. We did begin to eat that too, heated with a little Kerry Gold butter. Amazing.

But there sat that yummy-looking loaf of sourdough, inching closer to it’s best-by date. What to do with that? Sourdough can be used for any meal of the day, of course, so I decided to relegate it to dinner.

I have often thought that Croque Monsieur sandwiches look amazing, but a bit complicated with a bechamel sauce that requires a bit more work than one would like for an upgraded grilled cheese sandwich.

But then I found Julia Frey’s take on this classic on her website www.vikalinka.com. Instead of making the complicated sauce, she adds heavy whipping cream to her cheese mixture, which adds depth and creaminess without extra labor. Brilliant.

So I set out to make a very close version of her yummy Croque Monsieur. I sliced up my loaf of sourdough and got enough for 6 sandwiches, 2 being smaller in size, from the tapered ends of the loaf. This was perfect, as I was feeding 5 that night.

A traditional Croque Monsieur uses Emmental or Gruyere cheese. Julia uses aged white cheddar. I am fairly fond of a mix of Gruyere and Swiss cheese that you can find at Aldi, so I used that.

Julia Frey uses thick slices of ham, but I used deli ham, as I always have that on hand. I added 2 slices of honey ham to each sandwich, but you can add more or less, if you prefer.

Mix the shredded cheese with the heavy whipping cream, and a bit of ground nutmeg. Spread it on the bottom half of each sandwich, top with cheese, top the sammies with their final slice of bread and spread the rest of the cheese on top. Bake until melted and lightly browned. That is a Croque Monsieur. But add a perfectly fried egg and it becomes a Croque Madame, making it even better in my opinion.

The beauty of this final step is that you can customize it and make the sandwiches Mister or Misses based on each person’s preference. I like my egg perfectly fried over easy so the yolk adds its own saucy dimension to the sandwich. While other family members prefer no egg at all.

When you start with a great loaf of bread and add some simple ingredients, you can quickly pull together a fancy French sandwich. Add some fresh veggies, fruit or a salad and vióla! A perfectly complete, fancy French meal.

*Recipe adapted from www.vinkalinka.com.