Croque Madame
A deliciously cheesy French ham sandwich with bechamel topped with a sexy sunny side up egg.
Ingredients
For the sandwich:
- 4 slices sourdough
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cups shredded gruyere or comte swiss cheese also works
- 1 lb bistro ham, sliced your favorite deli ham will work
- 4 each eggs
- 2 cups bechamel
For the bechamel:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 50 grams AP flour
- 50 grams butter
- pinch of nutmeg
- salt to taste
Instructions
Bechamel:
- Prepare the bechamel – Heat up the two cups of whole milk on the stove to a light simmer. Meanwhile, melt the 50 grams of butter in a sauce pan. Once melted, add the 50 grams of flour and whisk together. If you are using nutmeg, add now. Cook for a couple minutes until the raw flour taste is gone, but do no let the mixture turn brown. Slowly add in the hot milk while whisking until everything is homogenous. Bring this to a light boil while whisking, and then turn of the heat. Using the whisk, season with salt to taste. Your bechamel is finished.
Croque Madame:
- Preheat oven to 400 deg.
- Melt two tablespoons of butter in pan and add sourdough slices. Cook them on each side until they are golden brown. Spread Dijon mustard evenly on each slice. Divide ham among the four croque madams – lay out ham so that it is draping over the ends of the bread.
- Spread the bechamel evenly among the four sandwiches, layering it on top of the ham. Finally, cover the top of the croque monsieurs generously with the shredded cheese.
- Place assembled sandwiches on a baking sheet (layer this baking sheet with foil/parchment paper for easy clean up afterwards since the cheese will melt over). Place sandwiches in oven for five minutes. Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of butter in nonstick pan and cook the four eggs sunny side up so that the white has fully set but the yolk is still runny. Season the eggs with salt and black pepper; set aside and keep warm. After the croque madames have been in the oven for five minutes, turn on the broiler.
- Cook croque monsieur sandwiches under broiler until the cheese is fully melted and becomes brown and darkened from the high heat. This could be from 1 to 3 minutes, but make sure to keep an eye on things at this point of the process. Once your sandwiches have developed a nice brown color on top, remove them from the oven. Place one sunny side up egg on the center of each croque madame sandwich. Enjoy!!