Croque Madame

When we were in Napa a couple weeks ago Chris ordered a Croque Madame that looked heavenly so I thought I would give it a shot tonight.  I have made a Croque Monsieur in the past but never a Croque Madame; the only difference is a fried egg on the top.  I found a recipe on Williams Sonoma but also have a recipe that I have used in the past, I ended up kind of combing the two.

Menu
Croque Madame
Arugula Salad with Strawberries

Ingredients
Challah Bread
Unsalted Butter
Dijon Mustard
Black Forest Ham
Gruyere Cheese
Milk
Flour
Salt, Pepper and Cayenne Pepper

In a small pan melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and then whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour.  Slowly add in 1 1/2 cups of milk.  Season with salt, pepper and a dash of Cayenne pepper. The recipe recommends Whole Milk but I used Fat Free Milk (actually I use Lactaid). Continue whisking the so that the milk doesn't burn.  You will cook the roux for approximately 15 minutes or until the mixture thickens.  You are creating a béchamel sauce.  Once it thickens you will add the grated Gruyere cheese; I added approximately 1 cup.  Remove from heat and continuously stir so that the cheese melts into the sauce.  


Take your slices of Challah and butter one side of each slice.  In a warm skillet, place one of the slices butter side down. Add two pieces of ham and top with the second slice.  The second slice should have Dijon mustard on the inner side and butter on the outer side.  Cook until the first side is browned, flip and brown the other side.  You can remove and place the sandwiches on a foiled lined pan.  In the same skillet add a little more butter, melt and then crack in the eggs.  You will be frying one egg for each sandwich so be sure to keep the eggs about an inch apart.  You are making an over easy to over medium egg.  Salt and pepper the egg.  


Take some of the cheese sauce and smear it on the top of the sandwich, top with a small amount of grated Gruyere.  Place the egg on top and then add the additional cheese sauce; generously cover the top of the sandwich.  Sprinkle the top of the sandwich with chopped fresh parsley. Place under broiler until the cheese sauce browns a bit.  Be sure that the sandwich isn't too close to the broiler or you will burn the bread.


Serve with a nice green salad.  I used baby arugula, sliced red onion, sliced strawberries and Brianna's Blush Wine Salad Dressing.

This meal was rated 3 asparagus spears

S had a bit of the sandwich and she thought it was quite tasty. She loved the ham.  Again, you will have to excuse the foodograph, not one of the best shots.