For the last week or so, while eating some delicious healthy homemade packed lunch or another, this thought has consistently crossed my mind… “This meal of roasted  vegetables (or green salad or homemade soup) are so healthy and delicious …but I really just wish that I was eating french fries, or something with cheese sauce or maybe chicken wings.”

Yes ladies and gentlemen, winter has arrived.  I am tired and overworked and cold.  I want comfort food.  Maybe you do too?  If so, make yourself a batch of croque monsieur biscuits.  A croque monsieur is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with bechamel sauce and mustard.  Usually, they are made with bread, but these ones are made with buttermilk  biscuit dough.  They are delicious for breakfast, with a small green salad for lunch or eaten as a midnight snack.  My husband is the one who suggested that I should make croque monsieur biscuits.  He is so smart.

While we are on the topic of melted cheese sandwiches and their marvelous variations, I would like to point everyone toward this amazing recipe for kim chee grilled cheese from the newish and excellent blog Two Red Bowls.  I have been eating this a lot, and I really think that everyone else should too.  It is very good, and warming, with a glass of whiskey.

CROQUE MONSIEUR BISCUITS (GLUTEN-FREE OR NOT)

Bechamel

• 1 tablespoon  butter
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I used Jeanne’s all-purpose gluten-free mix)
• 1 cups  milk
• 1/2  teaspoon salt (you  can skip this if you are using salted butter)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• A tiny pinch nutmeg
• 1/2 cup Gruyère, grated

Heat the milk in a small saucepan over low heat (or in a microwave if you have one).  In another small saucepan with a heavy bottom, heat the butter over low flame.  Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for 1 or 2 minutes.  Gradually add the hot milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  Continue whisking and cooking until the sauce thickens.  I usually lose patience and turn up the flame to medium at some point.  When the sauce is thickened remove it from the heat and season it with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Add the cheese and stir until it is melted. Set the sauce aside while you prepare the biscuits.

Biscuit Dough

You can use this traditional buttermilk biscuit recipe or this gluten-free lard and buttermilk biscuit recipe.  Whichever kind of biscuits you are making roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/2 inch.
 Cut the biscuit dough into equally sized squares or rectangles, using a sharp knife.  Usually, you would cut them into 16 squares, but this is a photo of a half batch, so it is only cut into 8 pieces. Fill the biscuits before baking them.

Filling and Baking

• 2 or 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (if you are making gluten-free biscuits, check the label to be sure that the mustard does not contain wheat.  Many do!)
• about 4 oz thick sliced Virginia ham
• about 6 oz grated Gruyère

1. Slather half of the biscuits with Dijon mustard.
2. Cut the Virginia ham into long strips no wider than your biscuits.  Rumple a strip of ham on top of each of the mustard smeared biscuits.
3. Top the ham with a generous pinch of Gruyère cheese.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
5. Place a naked biscuit on top of each filled one, to make 8  little sandwiches.  Again, this was a half batch so, I only made 4 sandwiches.
6. Place the biscuits in the heated oven and bake for 13-15 minutes.  The biscuits should be cooked, but not golden brown.  Remove the biscuits from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.
7. Spoon 2 tablespoons of bechamel over each biscuit.  If you have leftover Gruyère you can sprinkle it on top.  Put the biscuits under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes or until the sauce is golden and bubbly.
8. Remove the biscuits from the oven and let them cool for at least a minute or two before serving warm.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE…

Gluten-Free Jalapeno Poppers https://bigsislittledish.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/gluten-free-jalapeno-poppers-or-isnt-wrapping-it-bacon-always-the-solution/

Gluten-Free Pineapple Ham Pizza https://bigsislittledish.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/the-lure-of-pineapple-and-ham-pizza/

Bresaola and Arugula Salad https://bigsislittledish.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/bresaola-and-arugula-salad/