Pass The Croque Monsieur...

Oui, oui mon amis.......(yes, yes my friends) it's French night at Chez Sacks. Last summer Paul and I went to Indianapolis for the day. We ended up having lunch at a cool French bistro in the Broad Ripple area of town. Paul ordered a Croque Monsieur - basically a French style grilled ham and cheese. Last night I attempted to make it, quite successfully I will add, thanks to a recipe from my gigantic Gourmet cookbook. It's actually quite simple, delicious and honestly, fattening, but worth every creamy bite. What separates this grilled ham and cheese from the classic American version is the type of cheese used (gruyere) and the sauce (Mornay). The sauce consists of a basic bechamel sauce with gruyere cheese and some dijon mustard. The sauce is liberally applied to the interior of the sandwich and once the sandwich is finished on the stovetop, more Mornay sauce is placed on top of the sandwich, placed under the broiler til it's bubbling. Our tummies were definitely satisfied, so were our hearts.