A Southwest version of one of the greatest sandwiches ever invented. Green chili laced grilled cheese on steroids… Oh my… Croque Senor or Senorita.. take you pick.
I’m so excited! The Hatch green chilies have arrived! I got the “phone” call from my good friend Dave, aka “the Chili Guy” this week saying that he was starting his chili roasting this weekend! Whoopee! Seriously my favorite “foodie” time of year. I swung by the chili stand yesterday morning to get my first of many bushels of the green goodness for the year! I have to give Dave the kudos… He does the BEST roasting in Denver hands down. His roasting baskets are made to roast by hand, not those lame “electric” lazy roasting baskets. This way he can control the flame and the time that it takes to perfectly roast chilies! Trust me on this. Plus he is just a super fun guy. He makes waiting in line a great time. Stop by Wilmore Nursery (Just east of Broadway on County Line Rd) to get your chilies! You may even meet me. I love chatting about chili recipes with the customers! Always a good time. He will be roasting chilies Saturday’s and Sunday’s through September from 9-5! Stop by to get your chilies!
Given that I got my first bushel of Chilies yesterday, I had to, of course, make something with green chilies! Earlier this week I stopped in for breakfast at Pierre-Michel Bakery and Cafe and had a Croque Madam. Seriously one of the best sandwiches on the planet. It’s a huge grilled cheese sandwich with ham and a super decadent bachemal sauce. It’s seriously to die for, especially for us ham and cheese lovers. Pierre-Michel sure does it right for sure, so if you are down here in Highlands Ranch, you really do need to stop in to grab a bite. Besides beautiful dishes off the menu, his pastries are not only a work of art they are delicious! He sells out daily so get there early! I digressed.. Anyway, green chili. After having my delicious sandwich, I decided on making my own version. A Croque Senor (Senorita). Ha! I loaded up the bachemal sauce with green chilies and spices and instead of Swiss cheese, I used the super melty Monterrey Jack cheese. The result, a Southwestern version of the classic French sandwich. So good! You can break your diet for this one or maybe just an extra hour on the treadmill!
Enjoy!
- [br][b]For the Green Chili Bachemal[/b][br]
- 2 tbs butter
- 3 tbs flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tbs [url href=”http://www.cholula.com/” target=”_blank”]Cholula sauce[/url]
- 1/2 cup chopped green chilies
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
- [br][b]For the sandwiches[/b][br]
- 8-10 slices good bread (I used Brioch but Texas Toast would also be great)
- 1/2-3/4 pound ham sliced (I used a honey ham)
- 8-10 slices Monterrey Jack cheese
- Bachemal sauce
- butter and olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
- Fried eggs (optional)
- To make the Bachemal sauce, in a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the flour, salt pepper, pepper, Cholula, chili powder and green chilies. Whisk for 2 minutes. Add the milk and continue whisking until the sauce becomes thick (about 5 minutes). Stir in the Monterrey Jack cheese until melted. Set heat to the lowest setting. (You will need to whisk again before assembling the sandwiches).
- To assemble the sandwiches, put a dollop of the sauce on the bottom piece of bread and spread evenly. Add slices of ham and cheese slices. Top with the other piece of bread.
- Heat up a large saute pan and melt 2-3 tbs of butter and 2-3 tbs of olive oil. Add the sandwiches and cook until browned on both sides. Remove and set aside.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the sandwiches on a cookie sheet. Top each sandwich with another dollop of bachemal sauce and spread evenly. Top each sandwich with about 1/4 cup of additional shredded Monterrey Jack cheese. Bake for 5 minuets and turn on broiler and cook until the cheese turns brown and bubbly.
Add a fried egg on top and you have a Croque Senorita. Everything in my book is better with an egg on top! Delish!
Check these pastries out, almost to pretty to eat!
Yes please, I’ll take ten bushels…
This just makes my heart go pitter patter…
Look how photogenic these beauties are!
Straight out of the roaster and in the bag for some steaming… Will freeze for later!
Oh it looks so good! Are the chilies only available at Wilmore on the weekend?
Yes! Make sure you mention my name to Dave! 🙂
I enjoyed my Croque Madam at Pierre-Michel but yours sounds over the top delicious with the green chile sauce and it must be tried here soon. Your photos are awesome as well. Thanks for posting the chile prices.
Super great Larry! I posted the picture of the prices with you in mind! Whoever was charging $40 was way out of line!
Love love love this sandwich idea!
Green chilies make anything taste better!