Croque madame is a breakfast masterpiece, because lying just beneath the simple looking surface, is a lot of technique and skill. It has to have a balance between the salty ham, the crunchy bread, the nutty cheese, the tangy mustard, and the creamy mornay that coats the entire thing. Oh and we can't forget about the beautifully runny egg. We’ll tackle each of these components and the role they play.
Ingredients
2 slices of white country loaf
80g ham (3-4 slices)
Dijon
1 egg
Butter (for frying the sandwich and egg)
Mornay - enough for 2 sandwiches
25g butter
25g ap flour
250ml milk
25g comte
salt, pepper, nutmeg, bay
Step 1: Make The Mornay
In a pot, over medium low heat, add 25g butter and 25 grams of ap flour. Cook this on medium low while stirring until the flour has cooked into a slightly golden blonde color. Cooking flour in fat like this is called a roux, basically the flour granules will be coated in fat so they don’t clump up when we add a liquid.
With our blonde roux created, stir in 250 mils of milk a little at a time. Adding the cold milk into the roux creates a thick paste, so I like to mix until it’s smooth before adding more. Once all the milk is in, season this with salt, pepper (classically this would have some fresh grated nutmeg) a bay leaf, continue mixing and let it come up to a simmer. The simmering is our signpost that we’ve done our job, and the thickening will occur. Transforming this into a mornay is as simple as adding 25 grams of grated Comte cheese. Stir this in until all the cheese is melted, but don’t overheat this or the emulsion will split and the sauce will become grainy.
Taste this for seasoning and let this stay warm on the stove while we fry the sandwich. If the heat of your stove is causing this to thicken past the point you’d like it, simply mix in a splash of fresh milk.
Step 2: Build The Sandwich
Turn your oven to low broil and set the rack on the topmost position. On each slice of bread, smear on a thin layer of dijon mustard. Add your ham on top of one side and and spoon on a little of our mornay. Don’t close it yet, just place both halves in a skillet over medium heat with a knob of butter. Let both pieces brown beautifully and then place the smaller piece onto the piece of bread with the ham. Add more butter to the pan and flip this as needed so both sides are dark golden and perfectly crunchy. Remove your sandwich and set it on an oven safe tray. Spoon on as much of the mornay that you'd like and place it under the broiler. Watch it like a hawk so the mornay doesn't burn, you want it to be brown and bubbly. Remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly.
Step 3: Fry The Egg
For a perfectly sunny side up egg, use the same pan you cooked the sandwich in over medium low with a touch of butter. The egg can be cracked into the gently melting butter. Season this with salt and pepper and cover the pan with a lid. If you cover it, you’ll end up with barely any of that snotty whites, but you’ll still have a beautifully runny yolk. With the lid on over medium low, the egg needs exactly 2 minutes. Slide the beautifully cooked egg into your sandwich and get ready to feast on the absolute best ham and cheese sandwich you could imagine.
Cheers!
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