I had a brainwave the other night, a twist on the old Croque Monsieur classic sandwich by adding tomato sauce to the bechamel sauce to make a tomato-cream sauce.

Since it would be a combination of red and white sauces, I decided to try making it and name it Croque Reynard, after the French word for 'fox' and the titular sociopathic hero of the popular 13th century medieval tales.

I don't really use precise measurements for the most part as I eyeball a lot of stuff, but here's a rough recipe. The only part you need to be good with measurements is the roux and if you don't know how to make one, here's a rundown (https://www.spendwithpennies.com/how-to-make-a-roux/)

1. Create a blonde roux. Melt butter in a pot and then add flour, whisk until smooth and then pour in two cups of milk slowly while whisking. Let it bubble for a minute

2. Simmer until sauce thickens, whisking occasionally. Takes about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste

3. Add spoonfuls of tomato sauce (I just used a spicy store brand, you're not adding a lot) to the sauce and whisk until orange. Add more sauce if you want stronger tomato flavor.

4. Assemble sandwich. Take two slices of bread (I used potato bread) and put a few slices of prosciutto and then shredded Gruyere cheese atop it along with a few spoonfuls of the sauce.

5. Oil up a pan and fry both sides until lightly browned.

6. Cover the top in the rest of the shredded cheese and pour the rest of the sauce atop it.

7. Broil the sandwich in the oven for about two minutes. Keep an eye on it, it can burn in a blink of the eye.

8. Eat.


If you like you can add a fried egg to make it a Croque Hermeline.

It turns out really good, way better than I expected. I tried to look up to see if any variety of Croque Monsieur existed like this but I could not find any. For all I know, I might have been the first person to do this (But I doubt it). If so, here is my culinary gift to the furry fandom.