Croque(-Madame) the RIGHT way

I usually abstain from posting recipes. There are many (and I mean, MANY) cook books out there, and chefs … well, we seem to read them for the pictures and then just spend a few hours in the kitchen trying to outdo whatever we thought the whole thing was meant to be.

In this case, however, I cave. And I need you guy’s help. Link this, twitter it, facebook it, friendfeed it, heck – link it from your model train collectors page. Why? Because Satan (in form of one Rachael Ray) has come to take my most beloved snack from me, defiled it with extra ingredients and olive oil, and generally destroyed the beauty that is the Croque-Madame. I trust Google to place me ahead of such tomfoolery and lead future generations into the right, the real, the original, the cool as cool can be, direction.

This deserves an explanation before I dive in. Whether it’s the German “Toast Hawaii”, the British Ham and Cheese sandwich, the American Grilled Cheese, or the Dutch “Tosti” along with variations pretty much anywhere in the world – there is a common ancestor, called Croque. Croques are, for better or worse, the first ever fast food, served since the late 19th century in French Bistros and Brasseries. A Croque sounds easy to make, and is, but its beauty lies in the care an individual chef pays to its ingredients.

There’s a right way to make Croque, and then there’s a wrong way. This here, no excuses, is the right way. It’s the way you’ll have a quick and very, very, tasty snack on your plate in only a few minutes. And the best part – most things in this recipe are kitchen staples, no shopping needed.

Follow me now into the yummy goodness that is Croque-Madame.

You will need (per Croque, I’d make a few and have some friends come over for dinner):

• Two slices of toast or bread (squared off)
• Three slices of either deli ham, jambon du Paris, or any other smoked ham. Those among us with dieatry restrictions concerning pork or the mixing of dairy and meat could, fathomably, leave this out. Just make sure to call it a Croque-Lyonnaise, then.
• One Egg
• Gruyere cheese
• Butter
• Salt and Pepper
• Some Béchamel sauce (below)

Butter the toast on both sides and heat a pan or your griddle. Place the two slices of toast onto the hot surface. Now, while this heats, add the ham onto one of the slices. Between each of the three layers add some gruyere cheese crumbs. I prefer fine grated gruyere, but if you want to practice your knife skills you can also julienne it :).

Place second slice of toast onto toast and ham stack, then flip the whole thing so that the non-toasted (as of yet) side gets some brown. Repeat the flipping 2,3 times, until you have a nicely browned toasted sandwich. While this happens, sunny-side-up your egg. Season it well with salt and pepper. Remove sandwich from griddle, ladle Bechamel sauce on top of your sandwich (careful not to overdo it), then place the egg on top of it. Done.

Béchamel is very easily made. In fact, we’ll go one further and make some Mornay sauce, which is a cheesy “small sauce” derived from Béchamel. It’s what usually went on Croque-Madame in France.

Here’s how:

• Butter
• Flour (all purpose, not the cake one)
• Scalded milk
• Gruyere
• Parmesan

This is a fun one and something to remember, it’s the basis for so many things in modern cooking. First take equal amounts of butter and flour. Heat a sauce pot, melt some of the butter in it, then add some of the flour. Keep adding flour and butter until all of the butter is melted and you have a gooey, flowery, cream. This is called a roux and one of the basic things to know in French cooking. The butter helps incorporate the flour into the sauce without clumping. Make sure not to roast your roux too much. Ideally, it should be pale but not completely white. If you were to roast longer, you’d get “brown roux” which also has a lot of uses.

In any case, now slowly pour the milk into the roux. You will notice I didn’t give you a measurement of how much milk to use. That’s simple, create a creamy sauce. You’ll see it when it’s there. Voila, that’s your Bechamel sauce.

Once your sauce is nice and creamy, bring it to a boil and immediately turn it back to a simmer. Add the cheeses, grated, and slowly whisk the sauce to get all that cheese married to the sauce. Bingo – Mornay done.

So, here you have it. This is how Croque-Madame is made. Don’t put mayo on there. Please?

Some ideas:

In my work, I tried to make the whole thing perfectly square. I couldn’t find a cutter to make my size square, so I made one myself with food grade steel. Bent it into a square and made one more with rounded bottom edges for my egg. I fry my egg inside one square and use the other to cut the ham and toast into perfect squares. It looks … insane.

Serve toast with mixed green salad with a lemon vinaigrette, toasted almonds, and mandarin orange wedges. The idea here is to add some acidity to the dish which is otherwise very meaty/cheesy.

Your Béchamel sauce will hold for two days in the fridge. Just place some cling wrap right on top of it to prevent a skin from forming. Make the Mornay when you need it from your refrigerated Bechamel.

Resist the urge to squeeze the toast when flipping it. The wooshing and browning is fun, sure, but you want those juices inside, not on your pan or griddle where it’ll turn the toasted sides soggy.