If you are a friend of mine of Facebook, you knew that I went home for Christmas. It is very rare that I will make the trip home for the holidays because we spend Christmas Eve here with family and then leave for France on Christmas day which always makes for a very short trip. Moreover, the airfare can be very expensive at this time of the year so we tend to not do that too often. This year, however, we chose to take the trip for several reasons:

1. we had sky miles that help us pay for our airfares.

2. having lost my grandmother this summer, I needed to spend time with my “surrogate” mother, my aunt and showed her how much she meant to us.

3. It had been more than a year since I had gone home.

So we went home. My daughter brought her boyfriend along so obviously we toured Paris as if we had never done so. 

It was all so beautiful!!!!

Since we were staying at my aunt’s, we didn’t get to dine out often because my aunt wanted to spoil us with yummy French homemade meals and because we were just as happy staying home in company of our loved ones.

The only time we ate out was to stop for a coffee at a cafe, dessert and tea at a Tea salon, or for lunch.

One day as we were walking around the Galeries Lafayette, everyone was getting hungry so we decided to stop for a bite at the famous Cafe de La paix.

If you have never been, it is worth the stop. It is on the pricey side, but the food and the service is so upscale that  you will not be disappointed with going there.

The menu is so selective, that we could have ordered Caviar, foie gras, Oysters on the shelf, but we were so hungry and cold that everyone of us ordered the same thing: Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame.

I have long been familiar with Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur, but the one I had at that restaurant was so outstanding that the minute I got home, I made some the recreate those flavor I had eaten.

Why Do I share this recipe only now?? because that way my sweet daughter can follow my recipe and make it herself if she decides to;-)

Ingredients for 4 Croque Madame:

• 8 slices of honey wheat or white bread
• butter
• 8 slices of good quality ham ( not to thin)
• 2 cups of milk
• 2-3 tbsp of flour
• 5 cups of gruyere grated
• hot mustard ( French Dijon preferably)

1. Turn the oven to 400. Slather some butter on each side of bread, and lay the bread flat on a large silpat that you would have placed on a large perforated sheet.
2. Place the bread in the oven to toast for 5-8 minutes or until the bread is a light brown color.
3. While the bread is toasting, melt 2 tbsp of butter in a medium sized saucepan and when the butter has melted, add 2 tbsp of flour. Stir the flour to make a roux.
4. Warm up the milk in the microwave for 2 minutes and pour it over the roux. Continue stirring until the milk thickens and make a thick white sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and add 1 cup of grated gruyere. Stir well.
5. To assemble the croque monsieur, place a toast down. Spread some mustard, sprinkle some grated cheese ( about 1/4 cup), then place the slice of ham, sprinkle another 1/4 cup of cheese.
   
6. Place another toast on top.
7. Spread about 1/4 cup of white sauce on the top of the bread. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of cheese.
8. Repeat the same process for the rest of the toasts.
9. Place the toasts back onto the large silpat and toast them for another 10 minutes at 400,  or until the cheese is melted and golden.
10. Meanwhile, warm up a small frying pan over medium high heat. Melt 1 tbsp of butter and when the butter is sizzling, crack an egg. and sizzle it.
11. To serve, place the egg over the cheese toast, and eat the sandwich with a green salad in a mustard vinaigrette.Easy, Yummy and Conforting!!! Perfect for those winter months;-)

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

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