April 23

I can’t remember the first time that I first heard someone speaking French, but I do remember how enthralled I was at the beauty of the language.

Then in high school when I had to pick a foreign language, I didn’t hesitate a second and picked French.

Because Internet, I was deluded in thinking that men would drop at my feet when they heard me speaking French.

I’ll let you guess how that one worked out for me.

The French haven’t just given us a beautiful language to listen to.

They have given us perfume.

Fashion.

Art.

The Statue of Liberty.

And food.

What the French do to food is almost magical!

I mean they can take some homely veggies and turn it into a ratatouille or a cassoulet.

We Americans would just pop those veggies in the microwave and call it good.

We will smoosh some ham and cheese between two slices of bread, and call it lunch.

Not the French.

They will toast the bread and smear on some mustard.

Layer some  ham on top.

Some Gruyere or in my case poor man’s Gruyere swiss.

I would have stopped there,  plated it up and thought I’d have  done a miracle for the lowly ham and cheese.

But the French…oh no!

They add some cheesey white sauce.

And even more cheese.

And broil it.

Then they give it a fanch schmancy name.

Croque Monsieur.

Me??  I call it out of this world fabulous.

Superman!   Well, he just fell at my feet in gratefulness.

Finally!   After all these years.

Would you like to wow your man?  and only take about 20 minutes to do so?

Make him this lowly ham and cheese sandwich that Kathy picked for us BB’s to do today.

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch nutmeg
• 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
• Dijon mustard
• 8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned.

Serve hot.

Strew pillows on the floor to catch your man.

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