Croque Monsieur

Weekend lunches are particularly difficult meals for us. We are usually running around here and there and and we seem to end up at a restaurant for lunch. This drives me crazy. As much as I love to eat out, I find it frustrating that we have all of this perfectly good food at home but my family is too spoiled to eat "just a sandwich" for lunch. The only way I can convince my family to eat lunch at home on the weekends is to make something they love. This weekend, it was Croque Monsieur sandwiches. You never know whether the big chic will eat a whole sandwich or a half, so I always make extra. She ended up eating a half, so the remaining sandwich is her lunch for tomorrow.

Croque Monsieur sandwich, Wallaby Organic Yogurt, Roasted beets, Tomato slices, Radish, Vanilla Almond Granola, Cucumber slices

The beets are experimental. A year or so ago, I made beets and the chic hated them. It's the only food I've ever heard her declare to "hate". I love beets, though, and last night as I was getting ready to stick some in the oven, the chic walks in. She asks what they were. Knowing that if I told her they were beets she would never have tried them again, I lied and said that they were red potatoes. She tried one and she loved it! She kept grabbing them off of the baking sheet and ended up eating a handful before I could get them in the oven. I'm hoping that maybe she's changed her mind. So, the leftover beets are going in her lunch just to see what happens. She may bring them home untouched, but she might not!

Croque Monsieurs are soooo good! Basically they're just a ham and cheese with the addition of a cheese sauce. When La Madeline restaurants became popular years ago, it was the hubs favorite thing on the menu. I decided then that I'd better learn to make them. It's hard to vary on them much. We've made turkey versions also but the rest of it always remains the same. Here's how I make them:

Croque Monsieur Sandwiches
Makes 4

8 slices of whole wheat bread, lightly toasted

8 slices of Swiss or Gruyere cheese

8 slices of ham

Dijon mustard to taste

2 Tbsp butter

2Tbsp flour

1 1/2 c Milk

1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan

1/2 cup Shredded Swiss or Gruyere, divided

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in saucepan and stir in flour until smooth. Slowly add milk and continue stirring until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup Swiss. Stir until cheese is melted.

Spread Dijon mustard on four slices of toast. Place mustard side up on a baking sheet and top with two slices of ham and a slice of cheese per sandwich. Spread thin layer of cheese sauce on the remaining toast slices. Place them cheese sauce side down on the sandwiches. Ladle remaining cheese sauce on the top of the sandwiches. It will be a pretty thick layer of sauce. I usually let it cool a bit to make it thicker so it doesn't run off the sandwiches. Sprinkle the remaining Swiss cheese on the top. Bake 400 degrees until brown and bubbly on top.