Our Bistro Dinner

We've had heavy, heavy rain for the past 14 (at least) hours and with it has come unseasonably cool weather. In fact, I don't think it ever rose above 58 degrees today.

Anyway, whenever we have chilly weather, I get in the kitchen (duh) and make... soup!

Tonight's soup: French onion. Since I decided to make French onion soup, I also decided that it would be fun to make another French bistro staple to go along with it: the Croque Monsieur. However, since we were inviting Monsieur over for dinner, I thought it was only fitting to have Croque Madame over as well. I mean, hey, who doesn't love a dinner party?!? Except, in this scenario, we ate the Croques.

I started making the soup early because my version (read here "the best version") takes about 4 hours. Now, before you throw your coffee mug at your computer monitor and scream, "FOUR HOURS?!? DON'T YOU HAVE KIDS?!?" Let me explain. The vast, vast majority of preparation for this soup happens in the oven. The onions caramelize into a gooey, heavenly mess inside a covered Dutch oven while I do things like cook Jack an egg, change Sam's diaper or take both of them outside to play.

Once it comes out of the oven, the hands on time is pretty minimal. I deglaze the onions about 4 or 5 times, then add everything else and let it simmer.

Here's a picture I snapped during the deglazing process:

See the brown stuff stuck to the edge of the pot?

That's where Flavor and Awesome meet.

Anyway, while that was simmering, I got started on the Croques. Or perhaps I should say, Les Croques. Perhaps I should type the rest of this in French, in honor of tonight's meal. That would make my mom proud. Then, she would weep tears of shame when she read how abysmal my French has become.

Sorry, Mom.

So about these sandwiches. If you are unfamiliar with Les Croques, here's the quick and dirty: they're not your average sandwiches.

Got it?

Ok, seriously. The Croque Monsieur is basically a ham and cheese (Gruyere) sandwich, heated in a skillet. Then, it is topped with bechamel sauce and more cheese, then put under the broiler for a few minutes to seal the deal.

The Croque Madame differs in that the bechamel sauce is both inside and outside the sandwich, the Madame also has Dijon mustard, and of course, the most distinctive feature: a fried egg on top.

Now, if you know me but at all, you're probably thinking, "ham and cheese sandwich?!? That doesn't sound like something you'd eat!" Get out of my head.

And, no, it isn't. So, for the Madame I fixed tonight, I used rotisserie chicken, which basically makes my heart happy and makes my mouth sing.

So, I assembled the sandwiches, cut the French bread and made croutons for the soup, got it all together, ran it under the broiler and...

Viola!

Yes, the egg really does sit right on top of the sandwich. And yes, it was everything I hoped it would be. Kyle has listed this as a "must make again" meal, so that's good to know.