Southern Belle Croque Madame Food

CROQUE MADAME SANDWICH

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler.
• Make the bechamel sauce: In a small saucepan, melt 1 ounce butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until you smell the flour and butter cooking, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not allow it to brown. Add the milk and bay leaf and cook, stirring from time to time, until the mixture thickens like a soup, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the Parmesan. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
• Arrange 4 slices of the bread on a flat surface. Top each with 2 to 3 slices of ham. Mix together half of the Gruyere cheese and the bechamel sauce. Taste for seasoning. Spread a little of the sauce on top of the ham and top each with another slice of bread.
• Heat a large cast iron skillet and, when hot, add half of the remaining butter. Add 2 of the sandwiches and brown on one side, 2 minutes. Turn on the other side and brown 2 more minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining butter and sandwiches. Spread the remaining bechamel on top of the sandwiches and top with the other half of the Gruyere cheese.
• Wipe any crumbs from the cast iron skillet and spray with nonstick spray. Crack 4 eggs into the skillet, leaving a little room between each. (Alternatively, fry 2 at a time). While the eggs are frying, place the sandwiches under the broiler and broil until the top becomes golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Season the eggs with salt and top each sandwich with a fried egg. Serve immediately.

CROQUE MADAME

Steps:

• Place a small sauce pot over medium low heat and melt 2 tablespoons butter in it. Whisk in a rounded tablespoon of flour and cook 1 minute or so. Whisk in milk and bring to a bubble then drop heat to low. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg and Dijon. When sauce coats back of a spoon, turn off heat.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in each of 2 medium nonstick skillets, both over medium low heat. When butter melts add 2 large eggs to the first skillet, keeping the whites separate from each other. To the second skillet add 2 slices bread and toast lightly on first side then turn the bread. Top turned bread liberally with sauce and 2 slices of the ham and the Swiss cheese on each slice of bread. Use a spatula to transfer the eggs to the tops of the open faced sandwiches. Cover the pan with foil and turn off heat. Let pan stand 5 minutes to melt cheese and set sauce and eggs.
• Top sandwiches with chopped herb or herbs of choice and serve. Spoon any leftover sauce over top of the eggs before garnishing.

CROQUE MADAME SANDWICH

Steps:

• Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and stir until slightly brown, about 3 minutes. Whisk in milk; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling, reduce heat immediately and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 of the Gruyere cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; heat until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Spread about 1 teaspoon butter on 2 pieces of bread. Spread 1 tablespoon cheese sauce on top and layer each with a ham slice. Spread 1 teaspoon butter on the remaining 2 pieces of bread, then spread Dijon mustard on top and sprinkle with remaining Gruyere. Transfer all 4 pieces to a baking sheet.
• Broil in the preheated oven until cheese is almost melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the oven, place toast slices together to make 2 sandwiches and pour remaining cheese sauce on top of each sandwich. Return to the broiler until sauce starts to brown, about 2 minutes.
• While the sandwiches are broiling, heat remaining butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Crack 2 eggs into the skillet, keeping them completely separate from one another. Season with salt and pepper. Add water, cover, and baste until whites are set but yolks are still runny, about 2 minutes.
• Top each sandwich with an egg and sprinkle with dill. Serve immediately.

SOUTHERN BELLE CROQUE MADAME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400*F.
• For the bechamel sauce: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat in a small saucepan and whisk in the flour, cooking for 1-2 minutes.
• Whisk the milk into the butter/flour mixture and bring to a bubble, then turn heat to low.
• Season the mixture by adding the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and Dijon mustard.
• Remove from heat when sauce coats the back of a spoon.
• Add ½ cup grated Gruyere and the Parmesan, stirring until incorporated, and set aside.
• To prepare the polenta: Cut into ½ inch slices and pan fry on both sides in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat until crispy & golden brown.
• Place pan-fried polenta slices onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.
• To assemble the "sandwiches": Top half of the polenta slices with a dollup of bechamel sauce, 2 slices of bacon each (folded or torn to fit), and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere.
• Top each with another piece of pan-fried polenta.
• Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere and bake the "sandwiches" for 5 minutes.
• Remove from the oven.
• Using a spatula, top each open-faced sandwich with a fried egg, sunny-side up.
• Slather the tops with the cheese sauce and garnish with chopped herbs if desired.
• Serve hot.

CROQUE-MADAME

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Whisk in salt, pepper, nutmeg, and 1/3 cup cheese until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and cover surface directly with a sheet of wax paper.
• Make sandwiches:
• Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce evenly over each of 4 slices of bread, then sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese (1/4 cup per slice). Spread mustard evenly on remaining 4 bread slices and top with ham, dividing it evenly, then invert onto cheese-topped bread to form sandwiches.
• Lightly oil a 15- by 10-inch shallow baking pan.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately low heat, then cook sandwiches, turning over once, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes total. Remove from heat and transfer sandwiches to baking pan, then wipe out skillet with paper towels.
• Preheat broiler.
• Top each sandwich with 1/3 cup sauce, spreading evenly. Broil sandwiches 4 to 5 inches from heat until sauce is bubbling and golden in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off broiler and transfer pan to lower third of oven to keep sandwiches warm.
• Heat remaining tablespoon butter in nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then crack eggs into skillet and season with salt and pepper. Fry eggs, covered, until whites are just set and yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes. Top each sandwich with a fried egg and serve immediately.

CROQUE-MADAME

Steps:

• Preheat a two-sided electric griddle on medium-high to high for about 20 minutes, or preheat the oven to 300 degrees and preheat a cast-iron skillet on top of the stove for about 5 minutes. Prepare a bechamel sauce: in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. When bubbles have subsided, add flour and whisk vigorously for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk until smooth. Bring to a boil, and cook until thick. Remove from heat, and season to taste with salt and nutmeg.
• Spread two slices of bread generously with sauce. Lay two slices of ham on top of each, and top each with a slice of cheese; ham and cheese should slightly overlap edges of bread. Top each with a slice of bread.
• In a small saucepan, melt remaining the 4 tablespoons butter. Brush the sandwiches on both sides with butter, making sure that the edges are well covered. If you're using a griddle, place cheese side down, close the griddle and cook until the bread is toasted dark and cheese is leaking out and bubbling. If you're using a skillet, place sandwiches cheese side down and cook on stove top until well browned, then turn and brown again. Transfer skillet to oven, and bake until heated through and cheese is bubbling. Meanwhile, fry the eggs in a skillet with little butter. Slide one fried egg onto each sandwich. Serve hot.

CROQUE MADAME

Steps:

• Heat a frying pan on a medium heat and put oven on low. Put the ham and cheese between the bread slices and press to seal, then spread half the butter on the outside of the sandwich on both sides.
• Fry in the pan, pressing down with a fish slice, for 1-2 mins until golden then flip and cook the other side. Keep warm in the oven. Melt remaining butter in the pan and fry egg for 1-2 mins until cooked. Top the croque with the egg and serve with salad.

CROQUE MADAME HOT DISH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously grease a 9 by 13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with butter.
• Spread the bread on a large baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until dry and very lightly toasted.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking continuously, until a paste forms and it starts to bubble, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth. Bring the sauce to a boil and then simmer over medium-low heat until thickened and no floury taste remains, about 7 minutes. Whisk in the mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper.
• Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in the prepared baking dish. Arrange half the toast in the baking dish and spread half the remaining sauce on top. Scatter half the ham and cheese on the coated bread. Repeat the layering one more time with the remaining bread, sauce, ham and cheese.
• Bake the hot dish for 15 minutes, until hot and the cheese has melted. One at a time, crack the eggs into a small bowl, then slide them onto the hot dish so that the whites spread a little and the yolks sit in little divots; use the back of a spoon to make divots if the arrangement of your bread doesn't naturally make them. Bake the hot dish for 12 to 15 minutes more, until the egg whites are just set but the yolks are still runny. Serve hot, sprinkled with more salt and pepper.