Croque Monsieur or Madame

Bechamel

• 2 c whole milk
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• ½ stick unsalted butter
• ¼ c flour
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Sandwiches

• 8 slices country style bread, lightly toasted
• 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 8 slices ham
• 4 c Emmentaler cheese, grated, divided
• 1 c Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• 1 tsp Herbes de Provence
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the béchamel: In small saucepan, combine milk, garlic and thyme and heat over medium low until simmering. Meanwhile, melt butter in a separate saucepan. Add flour to butter and whisk for 2 minutes. Strain warm milk into flour mixture and discard garlic and thyme. Whisk mixture frequently until sauce is thick and somewhat elastic, about 4 minutes. Remove béchamel from heat and whisk in nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble sandwiches: Preheat broiler. Place 4 slices of bread on a sheet pan and spread the top of each piece with mustard. Top each slice with 2 pieces of ham and ½ c Emmentaler. Top with remaining 4 slices of bread. Spread the top of each sandwich with béchamel sauce and sprinkle with remaining Emmentaler, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and herbes de Provence. Broil until golden brown and bubbling, 6-7 minutes. Season with black pepper. Let sandwiches rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Note: To transform your Croque Monsieur into a Croque Madame, top each sandwich with 1 egg fried sunny side up.