Le Bernardin's Salmon-Caviar Croque-Monsieur

By Amanda Hesser

Le Bernardin's Salmon-Caviar Croque-Monsieur
Tom Schierlitz for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen.
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(148)
Comments
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When the stock market is doing well, people with money to spend go out to spend it — thereby serving as unwitting patrons of the culinary arts. In the late '90s, the chef Eric Ripert said, “Everybody was a bit, I think, crazy and inclined to indulge in excess because of the end of the millennium." His contribution to the madness was this croque-monsieur layered not with ham and béchamel but with something even more indulgent: smoked salmon, Gruyère and caviar on brioche. Make it home, and don't look at the grocery bill. It is in service of luxurious flavor.

Featured in: FOOD: RECIPE REDUX; 2000: Le Bernardin's Croque-Monsieur

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 2 to 4
  • 4slices fine-textured brioche or white bread, crusts removed
  • About 1½ ounces Swiss Gruyère cheese, sliced paper thin
  • 1ounce fresh or pasteurized sturgeon caviar
  • 2 to 4slices smoked Atlantic ++or Norwegian salmon
  • 2tablespoons clarified butter
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put the bread on a work surface. Cover two of the slices with cheese in a single layer. Spread a layer of caviar on the cheese, not quite to the edges. Cover with a slice of smoked salmon, trimmed to fit exactly to the edge of the bread. Top each sandwich with the remaining bread slices.

  2. Step 2

    Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Lay the sandwiches in the skillet and cook, pressing down gently with a spatula, taking care that none of the caviar oozes out, until browned on one side. Add the remaining butter, turn the sandwiches over and fry on the second side until toasted. Transfer the sandwiches to a cutting board, slice each in quarters and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
148 user ratings
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Comments

stodda29

Indulgent and delicious. Couldn't get brioche so just used a finely textured white bread and used flying fish roe rather than sturgeon caviar because (a) grocery bill and (b) amidst all the other ingredients and after applying heat it seemed like there were better places for really top notch caviar to shine. Can't say if it would have come out even better with fancier ingredients, but I'd make it again as I did without reservation!

Nancy

I wonder if Tartufata might be an interesting substitute for the Caviar, i.e. mushroom duxelles with truffles in olive oil which is sold in a jar at most delicatessens that sell Italian goods? For some people this might be easier than trying to decide which caviar is best.

Jessica

Used Tsar Nicoulai caviar and emmental and this was one of the best appetizers ever. Whole Foods brioche was perfect. Will make for special occasions again and again if we can afford the caviar!

Lara

Croque Monsieur with lemon confit: https://youtu.be/3Gd84REWz7k

rosalind

New Year’s Day 2021. Delicious!

Holly

Wow! This is the most delicious, decadent thing I’ve ever had! I used sturgeon caviar and the superb smoked salmon from Monsieur Marcel in the LA Farmer’s Market on sourdough that had a very brioche texture. Omg. Definitely will make this on special occasions again!

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