France’s Contributions to Hamdom
If you know us at all, you know we are major francophiles. We are the kind of francophiles who talk about French chefs as if they were Freddy Mercury. We like France - maybe too much (but probably not). So, I'm sure it comes as a surprise to no one when I say: of all the people who cook with the awesome food that is ham, the French may do it the best. Here are a couple scrumptious examples to convince you I’m right:
Jambon Beurre
Jambon Beurre is a ham and butter sandwich. This sounds like what a kid asks for lunch. Be not deceived intrepid culinarians! It is one of the greatest sandwiches of all time. This combination is what French food is all about. You cannot, I repeat: cannot, make this sandwich with inferior ingredients. It shines like a star because French baguette, French butter and French ham are freakin’ awesome.
You don’t even need a recipe! Go to a good bakery, get a good baguette. Go to that cool store that sells french butter, and get some with salt in it or demi sel. Get some good, freshly sliced thin jambon de paris which you can probably find at the same place where they sell prosciutto and expensive cheese. If you can't find jambon de paris buy the best deli ham you can find. Better yet, Red Table Meat Co in our hometown of Minneapolis makes a ham called the Royal. This one would be ideal.
Assembly couldn’t be simpler. Slice the baguette open lengthwise. Slice numerous, generous pieces of butter and line the entire bottom baguette with it. Please do not skimp on the butter. Add a sprinkle of flaky salt to the butter and top the butter with slices of ham. Put the top on the jambon beurre and slice that beauty up. Enjoy the taste of Paris street food.
Petit Pois Salad
This is a cute little vegetable salad. It's so incredibly springtime and vibrant, but it still manages to be totally indulgent. Again, emphasis on good ingredients with this one. Petit pois are green peas, and that's what this salad is mainly composed of. It is dressed in mayonnaise (oh how the french love mayonnaise!), creme fraiche and given even more richness and pops of salinity by some of that lovely jambon de paris.
Croque Madame
Oh yeah. This is a good one. The duchess of decadence. You thought we Americans had the grilled cheese all wrapped up. Wrong. The French just went and decided to give it a makeover. The French actually do love processed “American” cheese for this baby, for that ooey gooey melty-ness. The ham should be simple, delicious deli ham (of which jambon de paris would undoubtedly be my first choice). Once we have a grilled cheese that anyone on our side of the Atlantic would recognize, we douse that puppy in rich bechamel, and crown your queen with a sunny side egg. Get the recipe here.
I think the real value of french food is that they do it simply. I'm not saying that they lack panache or anything, but they can take a simple food like ham, and simply let it strut its stuff.