We’ve been missing our French honeymoon, so we decided to have some friends over and made one of our favorite brunch dishes that we had in the city of lights—Croque Madame. They’re actually pretty easy to make—and all the better when your friend brings homemade bread. Oh, and what’s the difference between croque monsieur and croque madame? Croque madame has a fried egg on top of it (which clearly makes it better). We whipped up this Food Network croque madame recipe and it was delish!
Ingredients:
6 ounces unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup whole milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
8 slices thick sourdough bread
8 to 12 slices good quality ham (about 3/4 pound) (we got the black forest ham at Whole Foods)
12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
Nonstick spray
4 eggs
Make the bechamel (pronounced beh-sha-mehl) sauce:
In a small saucepan, melt 1 ounce butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not allow it to brown. Add the milk and bay leaf and cook, stirring from time to time, until the mixture thickens like a soup, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the Parmesan. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
Arrange 4 pieces of bread. Top each piece with 2 to 3 slices of ham. Mix together half of the Gruyere cheese and the bechamel sauce. Taste for seasoning. Spread a little of the sauce on top of the ham and top each with another slice of bread.
Heat a large cast iron skillet and, when hot, add half of the remaining butter. Add 2 of the sandwiches and brown on one side, 2 minutes. Turn on the other side and brown 2 more minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining butter and sandwiches. Spread the remaining bechamel on top of the sandwiches and top with the other half of the Gruyere cheese.
Wipe any crumbs from the cast iron skillet and spray with nonstick spray. Crack 4 eggs into the skillet, leaving a little room between each. (Alternatively, fry 2 at a time). While the eggs are frying, place the sandwiches under the broiler and broil until the top becomes golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Season the eggs with salt and top each sandwich with a fried egg. Serve immediately and enjoy your yummy Parisian brunch!
Elise Armitage is an entrepreneur and founder of What The Fab, a travel + lifestyle blog based in California. At the beginning of 2019, Elise left her corporate job at Google to chase her dreams: being an entrepreneur and helping women find fabulous in the everyday. Since then, she’s launched her SEO course Six-Figure SEO, where she teaches bloggers how to create a passive revenue stream from their website using SEO. Featured in publications like Forbes, Elle, HerMoney, and Real Simple, Elise is a firm believer that you can be of both substance and style.
