Hope you’ve been enjoying my husband/co-writer Adam’s posts–he’s having fun writing them. I’m a bit behind on my own posting, so this is one I “cooked” a while ago. 1-4: Ham and Cheese Sandwich is exactly what it sounds like, hence the quotations around “cooked”–it’s basically a grilled cheese with ham in it.
As in 2-24: Parisian-Mushroom Salad, this is a French recipe somewhat simplified–the running theme throughout much of Simply Delicious. The croque monsieur is indeed a well-known French recipe, and lots of different takes on it exist out there.
I like the waffle iron suggestion in the Tips section on the side there. Almost makes me want to run out and get a waffle iron, just to make sandwiches in it. I suppose a panini press would achieve the same space-occupying function. Or maybe one of those George Foreman grills? I haven’t seen/used one of those since my first apartment out of college.
Ingredients. I have wheat bread, so that’s what we’re going with–same reason for using Cheddar cheese. Even though the recipe suggests Cheddar, most of the other recipes I saw suggest using a Gruyère or Emmental. Ham is in the plastic baggie in the middle–I had to downsize some obtrusive Costco packaging.
Calling back to the old Quizno’s sandwich making skills that I honed in my high school days.
I really care about efficient and complete cheese distribution when it comes to my grilled cheese sandwiches.
Ham distribution is important as well. With bigger slices I like to do half-folds for volume, but these ones were too small, plus the increased density works against you when you’re trying to melt and fuse cheese.
This is why I actually prefer to make them with mayonnaise on the outside rather than using butter in the pan (it works SO well it’s crazy), but I did leave it a bit too long on one side, which gave me a bit more color than I wanted. Notice despite the dark bread, the cheese didn’t really even melt.
I cut it into quarters for the final plates (two for him, two for me). Made a nice quick after-work snack, even though I overcooked my bread a bit. What more can I say–it’s a grilled cheese with ham and mustard, if that sounds good you’ve got a winner.
Grade: A
