Croque Madame
By: Jennifer Debth
Published: Monday, March 23, 2015 - 9:29am

Ingredients




Bechamel:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups milk, I used skim
½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Other sandwich ingredients:
1 loaf brioche (I got mine from Macrina)
Gruyere cheese (1 oz shredded or 1 slice per sandwich)
8 slices thinly sliced ham (2 slices per sandwich)
¼ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Butter, softened to spread on bread
4 eggs, fried

Preparation

1 Bechamel: 2 Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Then whisk in flour. Continue whisking and cooking for 2-3 minutes. The flour mixture will be thick. 3 Slowly whisk in milk, about ½ cup at a time. For the first cup, let the flour mixture absorb the milk before adding in more milk. It will first look like a paste, and then slowly thin out. 4 Continue to cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens. This will take about 5-8 minutes. 5 Once thick, whisk in the salt, nutmeg and ½ cup parmesan. Continue whisking until the cheese melts. 6 Remove from the heat and cool slightly while you get your other sandwich ingredients ready. 7 Assembling the sandwich: 8 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. 9 Cut the brioche into 8 thick slices. Lay out 4 slices and top with the sliced or shredded gruyere. 10 Next, top the cheese with the ham slices and a spoonful of bechamel. Top with the other brioche slices. 11 Gently spread the top side of brioche with the softened butter. 12 Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium low - medium heat. Place the brioche sandwiches into the pan with the buttered side down. While the brioche is browning, butter the second side of the brioche. 13 Cook for about 2 minutes, or when the bottom is golden. Once golden, flip the sandwich over and brown the other side. 14 Once the second side has browned, remove from the pan and place on the prepared baking sheet. 15 Top each sandwich with 2 tablespoons of béchamel and 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese. 16 Place in the oven to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. 17 Now make your fried egg. Today, I chose to do an over easy, but feel free to make a traditional sunny side up. Melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium non stick pan. Once the butter has melted, gently crack an egg into the pan. It should gently sizzle immediately. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 90 seconds and then flip it over to cook the other side (about 90 more seconds). Cooking time will vary depending on how runny you want your yolk! 18 Top each sandwich with a fried egg and serve immediately!

About

Croque Madame: A french ham and cheese sandwich made with thick brioche and smothered in  a creamy bechamel and a gooey fried egg.