The Classic Croque Madame

I don't remember where I first heard about this sandwich, but I know that I had been wanting to try it for a long time! This post is about the queen of ham and cheese sandwiches, a French classic, the croque madame. This is a sandwich to indulge in. The croque madame has a fried egg on top, but if you take that away it's called a croque monsoir. You can easily make this sandwich for a crowd, but even if you make just one like I did, you will probably have ingredients left over to make more!

You will need:

• Bechamel sauce

• French bread

• Ham

• Provolone cheese (or a cheese of your choice)

• An egg

• Butter

I started by making the bechamel sauce, for that you will need

• 1 tbsp flour

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1 clove of garlic, minced

• 3/4 cup milk or cream

• 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard (that's a weird amount because I cut the original recipe in half, so just an amount close to this will work!)

• 1/2 cup gruyere cheese grated

• 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Start by melting your butter in a pan, and then add the garlic and cook until it's fragrant. Basically, until you can smell it. Whisk in the flour and combine it all, it will clump up and be pretty dry, but don't worry about it. Cook that on its own for about thirty seconds, then you can start adding your milk or cream. Pour a little bit at a time while stirring constantly. It will take a while to get to the consistency of sauce, but it will get there! Bring it to a simmer and cook it so it thickens, mine was pretty thick for a sauce, but you can adjust it to your preference.

Turn the heat down to low, add in the mustard and cheese, and whisk until the cheese is melted. Season it with salt and pepper and adjust it to your liking before setting it aside.

Set aside the bechamel sauce and gather the ingredients for your sandwich. I used 2 slices of homemade French bread, more gruyere cheese because I didn't have provolone, ham, and the bechamel sauce.

First, you're basically going to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Butter the outsides of the French bread and pile ham and cheese in the middle before grilling it until the bread is toasty brown.

Then, set your oven to the broil setting, or the highest that it will go. As it heats, place the sandwich on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spoon the bechamel sauce over the top. Add as much or as little as you like, I like to add a decent amount so that as it broils, it spreads down over the sides.

When the oven is heated, keep one of the racks in the center and slide in your sandwich. Watch it closely! Broiling takes super high heat and it will be done quickly, keep your eye on it and don't walk away from the oven! When the bechamel sauce is bubbling/browning to your liking, take it out.

If you want to stop here, you have a croque monsoir! This is a perfectly indulgent sandwich to enjoy if you're a little shorter on time, but if you want to go the extra mile, let the sandwich cool a bit as you fry an egg (or poach, I've heard that's good too!).

Plate your sandwich, add the egg on top, garnish with whatever you want, and serve! I made this as a brunch for myself one day, so I made myself a iced vanilla latte to go with it.

This sandwich was so good and so worth the effort! Sure, it's not an everyday kind of meal but it would be perfect for a weekend treat-yourself brunch or a special occasion meal. It's so savory and the egg just takes it to another level. If you try and make it, let me know how it goes and how you liked it!

Thanks for reading!

xx, Hannah