Barefoot Bloggers - Croque Monsieur and Greek Salad

Hello... This entry was supposed to have been posted two days ago; I had it scheduled to post automatically. Unfortunately, I neglected to hit "publish" when I scheduled the post. Actually, I didn't even know I had to hit "publish", but I do now!

This week we made Croque Monsieur sandwiches for Barefoot Bloggers. Croque Monsieur is the French-ed up version of a grilled cheese. It typically has Gruyere or Emmenthal cheese, ham and mustard. The sandwich is topped with a Mornay sauce-a Bechamel sauce with cheese added. Croque Monsiuer is a really decadent, rich sandwich, and this is a nice version of it. The sauce is especially good. Of course, I didn't use the ham. These sandwiches are supposed to have a browned, and bubbly top. Notice that mine look pale. This is because I have a great distrust of all broilers, so I baked mine in the oven instead of broiling them. I avoid using broilers because every single time I've cooked something in one, the food has either a)burned to a crisp, or, b)burst into flames. If you are better with broilers than I am, please go ahead and broil your Croque Monsieur sandwiches to get the lovely golden crust. If you want to make this sandwich even more special, serve it with a fried or poached egg on top. The egg-y version is officially called a Croque Madame. As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Croque Mademoiselle...

To see Ina's recipe for Croque Monsieur, please visit the wonderful blog, "All Food Considered." http://allfoodconsidered.blogspot.com/2009/04/barefoot-bloggers-croque-monsieur-oui.html

To read more about the Barefoot Bloggers, visit the web site: http://barefootbloggers.wordpress.com/

I made a big Greek salad to go with the Croque Monsieur. The recipe is based on a Greek orzo salad I saw in Gourmet. The orzo would have been a lovely addition, but I didn't have any at home.

This salad starts with a layer of black-eyed peas-you can use canned, or cook up some dried beans as I did. Moving up, we have: a layer of shredded lettuce, diced red onion, diced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, black olives, and feta cheese on top. If you wanted a vegan salad, all you would need to do is cut out the feta, or maybe replace it with some diced baked tofu, or some tempeh. I made a basic oil and vinegar dressing: olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. You could really use any dressing you want with this salad.

This was a really nice salad and sandwich meal. It is something you could have on the table in under an hour-unless you are Rachael Ray, and then it would be ready in 30-minutes. Both the Croque Monsieur, and the Greek salad would be lovely to serve guests-you can show off how "international" you are by making this French-y/Greek-y meal.

Please stay tuned for more fabulous Ina Garten-Barefoot Blogger recipes, hopefully posted on the proper day.