From It's Complicated · 2009 · Reconstructed
Croque-Monsieur
Serve when
Jane slides the sandwiches onto plates straight from the oven, still bubbling, right as Adam catches sight of them.
In the movie
Theatrical
- ~00:49:30 Jane makes Adam an open-faced croque-monsieur for their first dinner at her house — "one of the first things I learned to make when I lived in Paris"
- ~00:55:00 Jake finds Jane's leftover croque-monsieur on the counter that same night and eats it cold, straight off the plate — "just as I remember it"
It's the dish Jane reaches for on her and Adam's first real dinner together, and she frames it as a small piece of autobiography — "one of the first things I learned to make when I lived in Paris." The scene plays it as a modest, unshowy meal between two people being careful with each other. It gets a second life a few hours later when Jake, sneaking into Jane's kitchen after Adam's gone home, finds the leftovers on the counter and eats them cold, straight off her plate, calling it "just as I remember it" — the same sandwich now doing double duty as a callback to the marriage the film keeps circling back to.
Ingredients
Method
- Make a quick béchamel: melt 1 tablespoon of the butter, whisk in the flour, and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the warm milk and simmer, whisking, until thick. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
- Butter one side of each bread slice. Spread the unbuttered side of two slices with Dijon, layer on the ham and a third of the Gruyère, and top with the second slice, buttered side out.
- Griddle the sandwiches in a skillet over medium heat until golden on both sides and the cheese inside has melted.
- Set the sandwiches open-faced on a baking sheet, spoon béchamel over the top of each, and scatter the remaining Gruyère over that.
- Run under the broiler for 2–3 minutes, until the top is bubbling and spotted brown.
- Plate immediately with a small green salad alongside.
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