Ham, gruyere cheese, bechamel, and a fried egg with crispy, crusty bread…what could be better!?!

Classic Croque Madame:

This is a definitely a ‘go-to’ sandwich we love.  I love to use leftover fresh ham for this but any smoked and cured ham will do.  Likewise, prosciutto works well with this dish.  I think the key with the ham component is to use any that you like as long as you stay away from sweetly glazed or cured hams.  I think it is much better using a simple smoked and cured ham instead.  Otherwise, how could this not be great?  It’s ham, gruyere cheese, crusty bread, and a fried egg with béchamel sauce!  I mean, come on…it’s going to be pretty great.  Sometimes, we make these without the béchamel because we want something less heavy but let’s face it…it really is better with the béchamel.  Also, classically this sandwich is made with two pieces of bread with the fried egg over the top.  However, we often serve them open-faced with one piece of bread.  So, do as you prefer…

This is a pretty heavy, filling sandwich so we usually serve this with a large, simple salad with lots of greens and veggies.  Hint…eat a large salad first and then tackle the sandwich as it will fill you up more quickly and ensure you eat something healthy first before partaking in the less healthy sandwich.  Then if you end up eating the entire sandwich after that, then at least you can feel good about eating a decent amount of vegetables along with it!

Oh, just in case…béchamel is a French Mother sauce and their version of a white sauce.  It’s not made with cream, however. Instead, you make a roux with flour and butter and then slowly add milk until a sauce is formed.  Season it with salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and some freshly grated nutmeg and you are good to go.  It’s really great and a handy and fairly easy sauce to pull together for all sorts of things including a pretty incredible macaroni and cheese!  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →