Bonjour my friends, I’m Sachin and welcome to Food Poster!  

One common food item that many North Americans eat  for lunch is a sandwich! It’s very convenient plus there are so many variations to making one. It can  be Egg Sandwich, Shrimp Po` Boy with a bun or multi-layer bread slices like a Club. In  France, there’s this popular one served in cafés…



In This Post, I’ll show you how to make my  Croque-madame! This is like a Croque-monsieur but with the addition of a fried egg on top. With ham, fromage Gruyère and a nice Béchamel Sauce, this is  an incredible sandwich to enjoy for lunch as well as for dinner. So my friends, let’s get cooking!

Bechamel Sauce

First, we’ll make the béchamel sauce. I  won’t go into details about how to make it.  The only thing I want to mention is the consistency of the sauce has to be thicker than normal so after adding a  ¼ cup of milk to it, add a tablespoon at a time until we get something like this.  

Also, the only seasoning we’ll add is a small pinch of ground sea salt…  

Recipe

➣ That’s it! So when we’re done, we’ll remove from  the heat and transfer the sauce to a small bowl.  We’ll place some cling film on top making sure it touches the surface to prevent a  skin from forming and transfer to the fridge to chill, about 20 minutes. 

➣ Next, in a mixing bowl,   we’ll add the Gruyère cheese and pour in some milk. We’ll stir until the liquid is absorbed  by the cheese. The reason why we add liquid to it is because it’s easier to top the sandwich without  the cheese being flaky and all over the place. 

➣ To this, we’ll grate some nutmeg – fresher is better, then a small pinch of ground sea salt and the same with freshly ground black pepper.  We’ll combine the ingredients and set aside for now. Time to assemble the sandwiches…

➣ Here  I’m using French bread although some like to use brioche and I like to cut my slices ¾-inch thick. So what we’ll do is to spread a thin layer of chilled béchamel sauce on two slices  just like we would do if it was butter. On the other two, we’ll spread Dijon mustard. 

➣ Next,  we’ll add a few thin slices of ham which in French we like to call it “jambon blanc”  or “jambon de Paris”. It’s a cooked ham lightly salted. It’s the traditional ham used for the  making of Jambon-Beurre, a popular sandwich found in most cafés and bistros in France.  

➣ Now, we’ll add half of the cheese mixture over the ham spreading it evenly before placing  the other slices on top, mustard side down and then press gently. We’re not done yet…no, no, no!  We’ll spread more Béchamel sauce on top – it’s like butter but a zillion times better… yum! Then  we’ll add the rest of the cheese mixture on top of the sauce spreading it evenly. 

➣ Next,  we’ll place the sandwiches on a baking sheet lined with foil and transfer them to a 400ºF preheated oven. We’ll bake until the cheese is golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. About  5 minutes before time is up, we’ll look after the eggs. 

➣ In a skillet over medium heat, we’ll add  butter and when it’s melted and starts sizzling, we’ll crack a couple eggs. We’ll cook them  sunny-side up which is until the whites are mostly set but the yolks remain runny. 

➣ Now this  is the way I do mine… First we’ll season them with ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  When the whites are almost set which should take about 2 minutes, we’ll cover and cook for just 30  seconds.

➣ That’s plenty of time to not overdo the whites but cook the yolks a little more.  When the sandwiches are done, we’ll place a fried egg on top of each and serve immediately…And my friends, this is our Croque-madame! 

➣ This is the upscale version of a Croque-monsieur. This  popular French sandwich is packed with tons of flavor! It’s a great recipe to make for lunch  but also for dinner. It’s light and fulfilling at the same time… certainly a must try!

This was the recipe hope you liked it.

Until next time my friends, bon appétit!