Lekker Brekker Monday: Chicken mayo toasties, à la Croque Monsieur

Four things make these air fryer toasted chicken mayo sandwiches a bit different from the rest: one slice of bread is spread with mayonnaise, the other with mustard; there is thyme in the chicken mix, and grated cheese appears both in the middle of the sandwiches and as a golden crust on top. But, while Croques Monsieur are fried in a pan (really), these are designed for your air fryer.

I like what the fresh thyme adds: a garden-fresh herbiness to contrast with the mustard and the tang of the mayonnaise. And though the mayo is a key element of the recipe, the inclusion of mustard and thyme means it is not dominant. Every flavour gets a chance to shine. And the one-dimensionality of your standard chicken mayo toastie is conquered.

All air fryers differ in settings and size, but as a guide I started to cook them in the Instant Vortex Plus 5.7 litre air fryer on the air fryer setting, which defaults to 180°C, then switched to the grill setting, which is 205°, but 200°C would suffice if that’s your top temperature.

This recipe relies on your having had chicken for supper the night before, unless you actually want to cook chicken especially for chicken mayo sandwiches. Which I doubt.

A true Croque Monsieur is made of ham, cheese and Dijon mustard, with béchamel: here’s my recipe for those. 

Like the Croque Monsieur, these are made with ordinary old store-bought bread. I find that bread that is slightly beyond its soft freshness is best; they firm up and get nicely toasty. Here’s the recipe…

(Quantities variable depending on how many you’re making)

Ingredients

2 slices of day-old white household bread per sandwich

Butter or canola margarine for spreading the top sides of the bread

1 heaped Tbsp decent quality mayonnaise per slice

1 scant Tbsp mustard per slice

1 cup of cooked mayo strips per 2 sandwiches (½ cup for 1)

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 Tbsp picked thyme leaves

¾ cup grated cheese per sandwich, and more for the top

Cooking oil spray

Method

In a bowl, mix the shredded chicken with salt, black pepper and picked thyme leaves.

Lay the bread slices out on a plate or board. 

Spread the top sides with butter or marge, then top alternative slices with mayonnaise, and the others with mustard. The mayo one will be at the bottom, the other on top. The sides spread with mayo and mustard must both be face up.

The elements, bottom to top, in order, are: bread, butter/marge, mayo, chicken, cheese, bread (with the buttered side down this time), mustard, cheese.

Share the chicken between the two mayo slices, pressing down.

Sprinkle about ½ a cup of the grated cheese on the mayo slices, leaving the remainder for the top.

Place the other slices on top, mustard up, and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.

Preheat the air fryer to 180°C.

Cook at 180°C until you can see that the cheese has melted and is just starting to brown.

Turn the heat up to 200°C and continue cooking. Check now and then and decide when the browning of the cheese looks right. That means they’re ready. DM

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.