a croque monsieur, but a sandwich toaster makes a nice cheese and ham sandwich. Kids love them. I don't see anything against them - they're just a way of applying the heat and shaping the sandwich. Not a croque monsieur, obviously, but I'd confidently put my own version of a grilled (well, fried under a heavy lid, if you want to be pedantic - which I know people here do love...) cheese and bacon sandwich up against 99.8 % of 'genuine' CMs I've ever been offered. Not that I believe I've ever been offered a perfect one... An uitsmijter never, ever uses toasted bread. Slices of cold white bread, unbuttered, with (usually) ham with fried eggs and a layer of melted cheese. Roast beef in place of ham is not uncommon. Not a patch on a croque madame, or even Welsh rarebit with an egg on top. I've always found it pretty joyless, mostly because of the cold and butterless white-white sliced. What silverthread describes is called a 'tostie' here, and it's how my wife makes them. Time for breakfast I think. I'm French and i did my own research to find the best recipe for Croque-Monsieur. As I don't particularly like bechamel sauce as cooked flour in a sauce can be heavy on the stomach, I simmer cream until half-reduced before adding cheese and mustard. I also use thick slices of country-style bread to make sure the Croque-Monsieur doesn't become soggy and they give a nice touch of rusticity