I have been quite busy with Paper Chef recently but I was able to come up with my own little cheese sandwich contribution (apart from my attempt at creating 'designer' grill cheese sandwiches inspired by the success of the Virgin Mary grill cheese sandwich sold for 28 000$ a few months ago).
Anyway, in case you are not yet familiar with Cheese Sandwich day, it all started with an article from Pete Wells in Food and Wine magazine which annoyed and sometimes even infuriated a great number of food bloggers. For more information, have a look at Kalyn's blog especially this post and this one. There are also excellent comments on this whole debate on Deep end Dining, on Food Musing, Slashfood, Gourmetish, Tiger and Strawberries, Paper Palate, and a number of other blogs. It's amazing to see how such a text can make such an impression on a community of food bloggers.
Ok, I admit, my cheese sandwich is not really a sandwich... it is closer to what I grew up calling a 'croque', a French word for a type of open face sandwich. During my teens and early twenties, when meeting friends in the cafes of Québec city, I ordered tons of croque monsieur and croque madame. It was always cheap, tasty and filling... the perfect combination when you are young and living on a student budget. This is a slightly different version from the traditional 'croque monsieur', which is generally toped with béchamel sauce, ham, tomatoe and cheese; my version was made of asparagus, prosciutto ham, gruyere and a mustard flavoured béchamel. It was served on baguette bread and toasted under the salamander for a few minutes. Add a simple salad and you got the perfect cafe/bistro meal!
5 comments:
Looks absolutely spectacular. I hope you enjoyed it thoroughly.
Now THAT'S a cheese sandwich!!! I love it - my favorite ingredients and a beautiful photo.
Thanks for sharing
To exacerbate the issue even more and out of curiosity, which café in Quebec City did you prefer to eat your croque monsieur?
Sarah Lou, the best croque in Québec City used to come from the kitchen of Café Krieghoff on rue Cartier. But my favourite place was and remain Chez Temporel... there you'll find awesome cheese croissants.
Things have probably changed quite a bit over the years but these two are institutions that are likely to outlive many other cafes. I'd like to find places like that here in Ottawa.
you should see this!
http://shanesblog-o-sphere.blogspot.com/
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