Ingredients

Yield: 1 sandwich

　　2 slices home-style white bread

　　1 Tablespoons soft butter, or more if needed

　　2 or more slices Swiss cheese (such as Gruyère or Emmentaler) about 1/8 inch thick (enough to cover both bread slices)

　　several slices cooked chicken, about 1/8 inch thick (enough to cover one bread slice)

　　1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives

　　dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

　　

Special Equipment

A cookie sheet or shallow-rimmed baking sheet, large enough to hold all the sandwiches at once

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

　　

Step 2

Spread a thin layer of soft butter on one side only of both bread slices, then cover the buttered sides neatly with a layer of cheese. Arrange a layer of chicken on one bread slice and sprinkle on the chives and a few dashes of Tabasco, if you like. Flip the other piece of bread over on top (cheese inside, of course), press together, and spread more butter on the outsides of the sandwich, coating the slices evenly. Lay the assembled sandwich in the baking dish and prepare others the same way.

　　

Step 3

Bake the sandwiches for 10 minutes or so, until the bottom sides are crisp and golden. Flip them over and bake for about 5 minutes more, until the second sides are also well toasted.

　　

Step 4

Serve hot. For appetizer portions, trim off the crusts and cut each sandwich diagonally into 4 small triangles.

　　Excerpted from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Copyright © 1999 by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.