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.

Ham Pasta

Comfort foods and family favorites have always been a major part of No Free Lunch. I've featured quite a few of my childhood favorites, like klub, hotdish, and chow fun, but this one comes from Ariel. It was a staple of her family and has been part of our rotation for years. Although I typically do most of our cooking, she's stepped up lately with how busy I've been. This recipe has been an invaluable go-to dinner for us. It's quick and easy, and perfect for a busy weeknight.

What we call "ham pasta" is a variant of an American-style pasta alla carbonara, which adds cream and vegetables to the Italian classic. This is a great example of how foods change and evolve as they move around the world. There's definitely room for both versions. I've actually only made this dish once, and it didn't exactly go over well when I substituted the ham for turkey ham. That being said, this recipe is pretty loose and most of the amounts listed here can be adjusted to taste. 

Scalloped Potatoes

My apologies, my dear readers, I haven't been feeling too inspired to do a lot of great cooking recently. You won't be disappointed by this one, though. Scalloped potatoes are another family favorite, and I've eaten them going way back. I consulted a bit with mom, though I was winging it quite a bit here. While my first attempt was not 100% successful, I present here the "lessons learned" version. You can use whatever kind of potatoes you like. I used the ever-versatile Yukon Golds. I also want to make a note about turkey ham. When I was younger, we always had a block of this stuff on hand, and we used to put it on everything - sandwiches, Ramen, mac and cheese, even quesadillas. It's a little lighter in flavor than regular ham, and very inexpensive. Still today, it often catches my eye in the grocery store.

Ingredients

• 4 good-sized potatoes
• 1 cup diced ham or turkey ham
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 1/2 cups skim milk
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2-3 tbs flour
• Diced onion (optional)
• Grated Emmentaler or other hard cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut into thin slices. Dice ham and onion (if using) into small cubes. Add just a little milk to a bowl, and stir the flour in to form a slurry. Mix the milk and half and half together, then add the thickening slurry.

Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with potato slices, overlapping them slightly. Use about one third of the potatoes. Sprinkle about half the ham and onions over the potatoes. Cut the butter into thin slices (it's easier if the butter is cold), and strategically place about half of it. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Pour some of the thickened milk mixture into the dish.

Cover everything with another layer of potato. Add the remaining ham, onions, and butter. Season this layer, and pour in more of the milk mixture. Cover with all remaining potatoes, season, and pour the rest of the milk in. Cover the top with grated Emmentaler (or a cheese of your choice). Bake until potatoes are soft, about 60 minutes.

Croque-Monsieur

Another essential food lesson Mom taught me was the power of the sandwich. Simple, elegant, and so often delicious. I have eaten a lot of ham sandwiches in my life, but nothing tops a well-made croque-monsieur. The croque-monsieur is the quintessential French café food. Literally translated as "Mr. Crunchy," this sandwich combines crunchiness, creaminess, and a decadent cheesiness in every bite. This recipe makes two sandwiches. 
  

Ingredients 

Sauce Mornay

• 1 TBS butter
• 1 TBS flour
• 1/2 - 2/3 cup milk (I used skim)
• Splash of cream
• Salt and Pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/3 cup grated gruyère, loosely packed

Sandwiches

• 4 slices Italian bread
• Sliced ham
• A little extra grated gruyère
• Dijon mustard

Instructions 

We'll first prepare the Sauce Mornay. Essentially, Mornay is a Sauce Béchamel with cheese folded in. It's also great on pasta or with a lot of other foods. Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add flour and stir together. Cook until the mixture has darkened a bit. Heat up the milk, with a splash of cream. I just use the microwave for this. Slowly pour the hot milk into the saucepan while stirring. How much milk you use will determine the thickness of the sauce. Mix together well, and simmer a bit. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a bit of nutmeg. Finally, add the cheese and stir in so that it melts into the sauce. Set this aside, but make sure to keep it warm.

Spread mustard over two of the bread slices. Put several pieces of ham on each, however much you desire. Smear the sauce over the ham. Don't use all of it. Depending on preference, use up about 2/3 of the sauce here, maybe a bit less. Cover with the remaining bread, and smear the rest of the sauce over the top. Optionally, sprinkle some more grated cheese on top.

Place the sandwiches in a baking pan, and broil for about 1 1/2 minutes. Be very careful, and keep a close watch on the oven. It is very easy to burn the edges of the bread (as I did here). If this happens, just crack the burnt pieces off. When you're done, the cheese on top will be browned, and the bread crunchy. A popular variation, the Croque-Madame ("Mrs. Crunchy"), features a fried egg on top. Bon appétit!