Croque Madame

By: ML
It was another windy morning, I was hungry, and I was not about to step out into the cold. I had some eggs and left over gruyere. Eggs sandwich you say? Egg sandwich indeed. I didn’t want a simple egg sandwich and I didn’t want to cook up a storm for a measly little sandwich. As I was sitting on the kitchen counter looking at my eggs and kicking the open air I had an epiphany. So here goes my train of thoughts (FYI I have a really random thought process which you will notice over time), eggs, brunch, bread, butter, Thomas Keller, french fries, Croque Madame! I remember Bouchon had really yummy butter and then that reminded me of the brunch menu which offered Croque Madame (hot ham and cheese sandwich. It sounds so much fancier in French!).

So this post is a salute to Thomas Keller via Rachel Ray. I picked up the recipe from FoodTv and made a coupe of my own adjustments.  

Croque Madame, easy, fast, and delightful. This open faced sandwich was a perfect homemade brunch that went perfectly with an episode of the HBO special mini series, "Mildred Pierce." How very appropriate. 

With this recipe you will be making a béchamel sauce which is essentially a white sauce. Instead of a béchamel sauce I made a Mornay sauce. There really isn’t a huge difference in these two sauces. A Mornay is simply a béchamel base with grated cheese in it. Simple right? Plus, you can’t deny yourself of extra cheese. It’s like saying, “No, I don’t want the Leprechaun and his pot of gold.” Ok, no Leprechaun but yes pot of gold. Anyways, I used Gruyere in my Mornay sauce and instead of Swiss cheese I used Gruyere as well. If you didn’t know, I love Gruyere! I also substituted the slices of ham with turkey and for garnish I chopped up some cilantro. Minor changes and still delicious. Enjoy!    

Madame Croque

2 Servings 

Ingredients
4 tbsp. butter, divided
1 rounded Tbsp. all-purpose 
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper
1/8 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 slices white bread
2 large eggs
4 slices of ham
4 slices deli Swiss cheese
Chopped parsley leaves, chives, or thyme leaves for garnish - choose from any or all on hand 


Directions

Place a small sauce pot over medium low heat and melt 2 tablespoons butter in it. Whisk in a rounded tablespoon of flour and cook 1 minute or so. Whisk in milk and bring to a bubble then drop heat to low. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg and Dijon. When sauce coats back of a spoon, turn off heat.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in each of 2 medium nonstick skillets, both over medium low heat. When butter melts add 2 large eggs to the first skillet, keeping the whites separate from each other. To the second skillet add 2 slices bread and toast lightly on first side then turn the bread. Top turned bread liberally with sauce and 2 slices of the ham and the Swiss cheese on each slice of bread. Use a spatula to transfer the eggs to the tops of the open faced sandwiches. Cover the pan with foil and turn off heat. Let pan stand 5 minutes to melt cheese and set sauce and eggs.

Top sandwiches with chopped herb or herbs of choice and serve. Spoon any leftover sauce over top of the eggs before garnishing.