Recipe

Step 1: Cook the bacon to golden and set aside to drain on a paper towel.

Step 2: To make the sauce, in a small pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the herbes de Provençe and pepper. Stir just for a moment to allow the herbs to infuse into the butter. Whisk in the flour a little at a time. Stir rapidly with the whisk to incorporate all the flour. Once the mixture is smooth, slowly add the milk, whisking continuously, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 minute. Taste (blow hard to cool first) and make sure the raw flour flavour is gone. If it isn’t, continue to simmer and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in 1/4 cup of the Gruyere and the lemon juice. Set aside.

Step 3: Preheat the broiler.

Step 4: Toast the bread in the toaster to a light golden. Lay 4 pieces of the bread on a sheet pan. Add 2 slices of ham, then 2 slices of bacon to each. Spoon 1/4 of the Mornay sauce onto each. It is okay (and desirable) for the sauce to run out a little bit. Place the remaining slices of bread on top of the sauce. Divide the remainder of the Gruyere among the tops of the sandwiches. Sprinkle a little more pepper on top of each sandwich and place under the broiler. Broil until the cheese is golden.

See more recipes from Jeffrey Saad.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey Saad’s Global Kitchen (2012 Ballantine Books).