October has been crazy. I have been trying to post this amazing recipe for over a week now.  I promise I did not abandon you…. Hopefully this amazing breakfast dish will make you love me again and forgive me.  What is better than a ham and cheese sandwich….throw extra cheese sauce, butter, and an egg on top. Ya. This is the breakfast that I make for special occasions because, well, otherwise my butt would not fit through a door without being greased with butter….on the outside.  I made this for my best girl friends. It is one that they request and it is a breakfast that I loooove making.

I first had this sandwich when I was in Paris many years ago. I was tired from jet lag and stopped into a cafe. My french was terrible but I recognized the few ingredients in the Croque Madame…and I love anything with cheese and an egg. I nearly passed out from the pure divinity of this sandwich. Every bite is like falling in love. No, i’m not being dramatic…try it. you will agree. Money back guarantee.

Gruyere cheese makes this sandwich. It is a type of swiss cheese and you can find it in the specialty cheese section at your grocer. I’ve made this sandwich with expensive imported aged gruyere cheese and also with a cheaper and more affordable gruyere. Imported and aged is better, but seriously…both taste like a million bucks. So do whatever your pocket book allows….But whatever you do…just do it! You won’t regret it.

Traditionally, this sandwich is made with two slices of sourdough bread with ham, béchamel sauce, gruyere, and topped off with an egg. To cut down some of the calories, I make this an open faced sandwich and cut out one of the pieces of bread. Also, the bread is usually buttered on both sides and toasted, but again, to cut down on a few calories, I don’t butter the toast. But if you are feeling like you need more butter in your diet, feel free to butter away.

The béchamel sauce is a bit time consuming and is not something that you can walk away from. You can make this sauce ahead of time (1 hr or so) and cover with plastic wrap until you need to use it. Bechamel sauce is basically butter, flour, milk, gruyere cheese and a dash of nutmeg. mmmmm. Again…traditionally this sauce is made with whole milk….to give your badunkadunk some more dunk.  However, I use 2% milk, but I have used 1% in a pinch and I think it tasted plenty rich.  Any leftover sauce can be used towards a veggie lasagna, other sandwiches, on top of baked eggplant….on a spoon. 🙂

Now, you can also make this sandwich without the egg (who knows why you would do this), but, if you do (i’ll think you are crazy), it is referred to as a Croque Monsieur.

Croque Madame (serves 4…generously)

Ingredients

Bechamel Sauce

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 Cup 2% milk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
• dash nutmeg
•  1/2 to 3/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese (divided)