Ham and cheese sandwiches are good, but even better when you add more cheese and butter to them! The Croque Monsieur (Mr. Toasted) first appeared in 1910 on cafe menus in Paris on the Boulevard des Capucines where it is still popular today. What takes this ham and cheese sandwich to the next level? After you broil the sandwich, you then smother it in Mornay Sauce (a bechamel sauce with added cheese) and top it off with a sunny-side up egg. It takes a little work to get there, but ham and cheese won’t be the same after you eat this one.
Croque Madame Step 1: Make your Mornay Sauce (Butter, flour, milk, nutmeg, gruyere and parmesan cheese, egg yolks)
Step 2: prepare and toast your sandwiches (rustic bread, baked ham, gruyere cheese, butter, Dijon mustard)
Croquet Madam Step 3 Last Step: Fry your eggs, put egg and Mornay sauce on top of sandwich, garnish w chives, enjoy!
- Sauce Mornay:
- 4 Tbs butter
- • 4 Tbs all-purpose flour
- • 4 Cups whole milk, scalded
- • Pinch of grated nutmeg
- • ½ cup grated Gruyere
- • ½ cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano
- • 2 egg yolks
- • Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- • .
- • Sandwich Prep:
- • 12 Slices rustic loaf bread
- • 12 slices baked ham
- • ½ cup grated Gruyere
- • ¼ cup butter, softened (alternative: mayonnaise)
- • ¼ cup dijon mustard
- • Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- • .
- • Fried Eggs and Assembly:
- • 6-12 eggs (for frying)
- • Butter (for frying)
- • 2 Tbs chives, finely sliced
- • Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- Make your mornay sauce first:
- In a small saucepan, scald the milk and nutmeg gently without bringing it to a boil. In a separate saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add all the flour to the melted butter and whisk to make a roux. Continue whisking until the roux takes on a light blonde color, approx. 2 minutes. Whisk milk into the roux. Increase heat to medium high. Continue to whisk gently bring to a full boil. Remove from heat.
- While the sauce is still hot, gently sprinkle in cheese while mixing to fully melt the cheese. Allow it to cool very slightly, then add the yolks and whisk them in until thoroughly incorporated. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Sandwich Prep:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Butter the bread on both sides. Place the bread and ham separately on a wire rack over a sheet pan, then cook int he oven until toasted on both sides. Immediately after taking them out of the oven so that the bread and ham are still hot, assemble the sandwich. Spread dijon across the bread and place a ham slice on each slice of bread. Sprinkle the grated cheese across the ham. Sandwich the cheese in the ham between the bread.
- Fried Eggs and Final Assembly:
- In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Gently add the egg to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook “sunny-side-up”, ensuring no liquid white is left on the egg sand the yolk is still runny.
- Place the sandwiches on a sheet pan and fully cover with sauce. Broil or bake until just brown. Being careful not to break the yolks, place a sunny-side-up egg on the top of the sandwich, or one atop each half. Garnish with chives and and ground black pepper, and ladle heated mornay sauce over the sandwich.
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