Originating in Paris cafés in the early 20th century, croque madame (and its “spouse,” croque monsieur) was devised as an easy to prepare snack, but, as is the case with most French foods that have a fancy name, it has gained since quite a lot of prestige in culinary circles. In essence, croque madame and croque monsieur are the same (click here for the croque monsieur recipe)- a baked or fried ham sandwich served with grated cheese. The one major difference is that Croque madame is topped with an egg, either poached or prepared sunny side up which drips beautifully when the sandwich is cut.
The dish is served with the ever famous bechamel sauce.
Let's begin with the Béchamel sauce. In a small saucepan, melt 2 tbsp butter. Then add flour and stir constantly until thick. Add milk and bay leaf and stir until the mixture thickens - about 10 minutes.
Remove bay leaf and add salt, 1/4 cup cheese and nutmeg. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Once cooled, add the remaining grated cheese, salt and pepper.
Top 4 slices of bread with 2-3 slices of ham each. Spread some sauce on the ham and close the sandwiches. Save the rest of the sauce for later.
Melt butter on a skillet. Fry the sandwiches for 2 minutes on each side. Top the sandwiches with the rest of the sauce and broil in the oven until golden brown.
Crack the eggs into the skillet and prepare a sunny side up. Season the eggs lightly and top each sandwich with an egg.
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