Upgrade: Croque Madame

Bonne fête! It's Bastille Day again, and this time, its one of my all-time favorites, the croque madame. Over nine years ago, I wrote about the croque monsieur, the classic French ham and cheese sandwich. I go back to that recipe from time to time, and I think it's one of my best from the very earliest period of No Free Lunch. A croque madame is simply a croque monsieur with a fried egg on top, an upgrade in and of itself. My other reason for revisiting the recipe is to improve on the crunchiness by toasting the bread ahead of time. It's definitely worth the effort!

This is my first post to feature our new convection oven. This enabled me to toast the bread, bake the sandwiches, then broil them all in one device. I'm still experimenting with it, and I expect it will pop up here from time to time. Of course, the whole recipe can certainly be done in a toaster and/or regular oven.

At their core, both a croque monsieur and croque madame are ham and cheese sandwiches, so using good quality ham, cheese, and bread is important. I used Gruyère here, which packs a ton of flavor, but is expensive. It's great as an occasional treat, but feel free to substitute. I shaved the ham off a half boneless ham from Costco and the bread was a peasant loaf from Vermillion's own Mr. Smith's. As with so many things, a fried egg makes everything better. Just make sure to have a knife and fork for this one.

Ingredients

Sauce Mornay (enough for two sandwiches)

• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1 Tbs. flour
• 5 fl. oz. whole milk
• 2 oz. grated Gruyère or other Alpine cheese
• Pinch of nutmeg (fresh grated is best)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sandwiches (makes two)

• 4 slices hearty white bread
• Dijon mustard
• 1/2 lb. thinly sliced ham
• 1 oz. grated Gruyère or other Alpine cheese
• 2 eggs
• Butter

Instructions

Lightly toast the bread and set aside on a baking sheet when done. While bread is toasting, make the sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add flour and stir together until fragrant. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Add cheese and whisk until homogeneous. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. The sauce should be thick.

Spread a thin layer of mustard on the bread slices that will be the bottom of the sandwiches. Spoon on a little sauce, then add the ham. Spoon on more sauce, reserving a little for the top. Close the sandwiches with the remaining bread and spoon on the remaining sauce. Sprinkle on the rest of the grated cheese. 

Bake for 5 minutes (325 degrees F with convection, 350 without) to melt cheese and heat everything up. When done, move the rack up and broil for 2 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

While the sandwiches bake, melt a little butter in a nonstick pan and fry the eggs over easy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top each sandwich with an egg. Use a sharp chef's knife to slice in half on the diagonal and serve.