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Drool-Worthy Recipes from In The Charcuterie
A recipe for Croque Monsieur and more from Taylor Boetticher and Toponia Miller of The Fatted Calf Charcuterie
The tradition of preserving meats is one of the oldest of all the food arts. Nevertheless, the craft charcuterie movement has captured the modern imagination, with scores of charcuteries opening across the country in recent years, and none is so well-loved and highly regarded as the San Francisco Bay Area’s Fatted Calf. Taylor Boetticher and Toponia Miller, the co-owners and co-founders of the Fatted Calf Charcuterie, have created a definitive resource for the modern meat lover, with 125 recipes and fully-illustrated step-by-step instructions for making brined, smoked, cured, skewered, braised, rolled, tied, and stuffed meats at home; plus a guide to sourcing, butchering, and cooking with the finest cuts.
Get an unprecedented array of meaty goods, with recipes for salumi, pâtés, roasts, sausages, confits, and everything in between. A must-have for the meat-loving home cook, DIY-types in search of a new pantry project, and professionals looking to broaden their repertoire.
Check out this recipe for the best Croque Monsieur you’ll ever taste, and the excerpt below for even more goodies including Lard Biscuits and Gingery Braised Duck Legs.
Croque Monsieur – Serves 4
Mornay Sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 cup (115) grated Comté or Gruyère cheese
1/2 cup (55 g) grated Parmesan cheese Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cayenne
Fine sea salt
8 slices pain de mie or other good-quality sandwich bread
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 pound (450 g) boneless picnic ham or other cured ham, thinly sliced
1/2 cup (125 g) whole-grain mustard
To make the sauce, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until combined and then cook and whisk for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, turn down the heat to low, and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, until smooth and thick. Continue cooking and stirring for about 5 minutes more, allowing the sauce to further thicken, then remove from the heat and stir in the cheeses, nutmeg, and cayenne until the cheeses melt. Season with salt.
Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Lay the bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Brush the slices with the butter, then flip them over, buttered side down. Spread the second side of each slice with the mustard. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the Mornay sauce on top of each of 4 slices. Top the remaining 4 slices with one-fourth of the ham, followed by 1 tablespoon of the Mornay.
Place the baking sheet in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and brown and the bottom of each bread slice is crisp and golden. Remove the pan from the oven and, using a spatula, marry each of the ham-topped slices with a Mornay-topped slice. Serve immediately.