Croque Madame – Grilled Cheese, Ham, and Egg Sandwich
A Croque Madame is a grilled cheese and smoked ham sandwich topped with a sunny side up egg. I used Black Forest ham, Gruyère cheese, and whole wheat sourdough bread because I want to be known as That Guy who makes a mean sandwich.
Within minutes, this mini-sandwich was reduced to traces of errant crumbs and fingertip grease. No egg yolk dribbled and wasted.
Skip on the fried egg you sissy and you end up with a Croque Monsieur. Who knew that eggs can define gender? Oh, nevermind.
The sudden need to make such a sandwich came from an unexpected source. You may have heard that expressing random thoughts in 140 characters or less is what the cool kids are doing right now. You’re not limited to digital words, though. You can also tweet links to photos of all things mundane. Such as dinner.
Which leads to this awe-inspiring photo of Croque Madame served with tempura green beans. Does that look good or what?
Now go make your own or visit the Paramount Room if you’re in the neighborhood.
recipe adapted from Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever
Grilled Cheese Pageant hosted by Kathy
Croque Madame
Grilled Cheese and Ham Sandwich Topped with a Fried Egg
makes 1 sandwich
Ingredients:
2 slices crusty white OR whole wheat bread (preferably sourdough) OR brioche
softened butter
2 ounces Gruyère cheese, thinly sliced
3 to 4 ounces smoked ham, preferably Black Forest, thinly sliced
1 fried egg, sunny side up
kosher salt or coarse sea salt, to taste
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Brush one side of each slice of bread lightly with softened butter. With the buttered side down, evenly cover one slice of bread with cheese and smoked ham. Place the second slice of bread on top, buttered side up.
- Place the sandwich in a preheated panini-style grill or between a hot cast iron skillet and press. Grill until the bread is sizzling and lightly browned.
- Top the grilled sandwich with the fried egg. Season with salt and pepper.
A Croque Monsieur about to be emasculated by… laying an egg on top? Alright, then.
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April 4th, 2009 at 1:33 am
I really IS a mean sandwich
April 4th, 2009 at 1:45 am
Man that really is a mean sandwich!
The best one I ever had was in Normandy. We were there just before Spring, places were still pretty vacant. We stopped in a little place, the guy told us his wife, the cook, had already left and the only thing he could fix was a Croque -Mr or Madame! We both got Madames and oh were they good.
Very excellent Jude!
April 4th, 2009 at 2:12 am
[...] on 04-04-2009 Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread – 100% Whole Grain… The rest is here: Croque Madame – Grilled Cheese, Ham, and Egg Sandwich Share and [...]
April 4th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Looks tasty! I usually like mine with the egg inside the sandwich, and the whole thing panfried in butter until golden brown (yes, just when you think you couldn’t incorporate more grease into it…!)
April 4th, 2009 at 2:32 am
A wonderful homemade take on that scrumptious classic! Yummy!
Cheers,
Rosa
April 4th, 2009 at 3:49 am
oh this sandwich is awesome the only problem I have is I don’t know if my mouth is big enough. Well I would gobble it for sure
April 4th, 2009 at 7:15 am
This is the sandwich my husband dreams about
April 4th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Wow. Would’ve loved to have this for breakfast today haha. Looks awesome
April 4th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Hey That Guy Who Makes a Mean Sandwich, thanks for giving me an idea on what to do with the extra loaf of brioche from last week that I stll have in the freezer.
April 4th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Jude, anything with a fried egg on it makes my stomach growl. Yum!!!
April 4th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Perfection. Hangover cure. I need one right now.
April 4th, 2009 at 10:53 am
You put a fried egg on top of just about anything and you’ve got me – this sounds flipping incredible.
April 4th, 2009 at 11:29 am
You read my mind. I have a loaf of brioche baking in the oven which I will slice and make later today into both madame and monsieur.:)
April 4th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
That is one mean sandwich! Looks so very yummy.
April 4th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Beautiful! I’m with Y, I’d probably put the egg on the inside, otherwise I’d have to knife/fork the sandwich.
April 4th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
what’s funny is i had my first croque monsier a few months ago at la madeleine, a restaurant in Dallas… then we went to Paris and i saw the croque monsier and croque madame on the menu and wondered what it was. when i asked the waiter about it, he explained it to me….but i still couldn’t picture it – but look how lovely yours is!
April 4th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
This sandwich officially makes you the guy with the mean sandwich! I never put it together about the sandwich gender until you pointed it out. Interesting.
April 4th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Beautiful to look at and eaten with no drips from the egg…I’m impressed!
April 5th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Looks great Jude! A great sandwich is a force to be reckoned with
April 5th, 2009 at 3:36 am
You do make a mean sandwich! I love this…adding and fried egg to a ham & cheese is definitely something I would do, and croque madame is my mom’s fave…so I gues there is something “madame” about it!
Anyway you look at it, this is a fantastic sandwich!
April 5th, 2009 at 8:11 am
[...] Croque Madame at Apple Pie, Patis & [...]
April 5th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I love croque madames. Well…really anything with an egg on top gets an A in my book. Especially burgers…yum.
April 5th, 2009 at 9:35 am
the croque madame is clearly superior to the croque monsieur.
great, great sandwich.
April 5th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Just found your blog (thanks for visiting mine) and this is BEAUTIFUL!! On April 9 the Barefoot Bloggers (a group of us cooking Ina Garten challenges) will be making uploading our versions of Croque Monsieur Sandwiches (but made with a Bechamel sauce). I’d heard of both versions (with and without the female-defining egg) and had already contemplated adding an egg to mine — I love egg yolk. Your post and your beautiful photography closes the deal — I am adding an egg for sure. This sandwich is making me hungry for breakfast right now.
April 5th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Delicious! Would it be sacrilegious to add a sauce? Let’s really tart up this lady – Croque Madama à l’Hollandaise! (Greg at SippitySup.com has a great mustard-based recipe)
April 5th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Mmm! I think I’ve had this more in the U.S. than in France but all I remember from high school French was saying “Croque Monsieur” and “Croque Madame” with a god-awful accent. Tough to say, delicious to eat!
April 5th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
You my dear make grilled cheese look not only Delicious but fabulously chic. Oh and the CHEESE… yummers.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
A new idea to put the egg on the top
April 5th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
I am loving those grill marks on your bread. Everything that comes out from your kitchen is just so beautiful and delectable =D
April 6th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Beautiful it looks so delicious and the picture is tempting me so i’ll run into the kitchen to make my Croque Madame
April 6th, 2009 at 8:04 am
It looks really mean
April 6th, 2009 at 8:53 am
WOW I would just LOVE one of those right now… so much better than my boring breakfast of cereal!
April 6th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I think I’ll have this for supper tonight! Yum.
April 6th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
This is my favorite sandwich- your version looks great!
April 6th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I want it. And you should never, ever waste egg yolk. Nectar of the gods.
April 6th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
That looks so good. I have never had either, Mr. or Mrs.
April 6th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I very nearly ordered this for lunch the other day, and now I just might have to go back and do that.
April 6th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Hehehehe… your post made me chuckle. His and hers sandwiches? I will take mine with the egg…
April 7th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I just tried the madame for my first time recently and I think it’s my new favorite. So delicious especially with the egg!
April 7th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Perfect looking sandwich! Everything is better with a fried egg on top.
April 7th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I havent had one of these in ages. So good.
April 7th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Comfort food at it’s best. Yum!
April 8th, 2009 at 8:26 am
oh yum yum yum! That gruyere…
April 8th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I could eat this any time, breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. It would certainly make my day, especially with the cheese and yummy egg!
April 8th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Now that’s my kind of sandwich! Looks fantastic.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Num! I think I ate a dozen or so sunny-side up eggs during my honeymoon and I can’t seem to shake the crave. This reminds me of a sandwich I read about from Tom Collichio’s new book, ‘witchcraft, which involved eggs and gorgonzola…I might toy with the idea of replacing the ham with some thick-cut bacon. Is that wrong?
P.S. LOVE the Paramount Room
April 9th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
My your sandwich and those beans both look fantastic!
I need to find out more about twitpic. That’s neat!
LL
April 9th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Well, what did you think ovaries were? Heh. Well, I guess I am a sissy then, but there’s still no way I would refuse this sandwich if it were place in front of me right now!
April 10th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
That is one good looking sandwich!
April 10th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
YUM – that looks like a perfect lunch! Or breakfast, or dinner, or snack…
April 11th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I wish I could have that sandwich for dinner tonight.
April 13th, 2009 at 6:48 am
you said it – you really can’t go wrong with an egg on top!!
cheers,
*heather*
April 13th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Jude, that’s a mean sandwich…a towering brekkie or lunch!
April 13th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Kate, Tangled — The Croque Monsieur recipe I have here calls for a Mornay sauce. I’m sure a little bit of sauce with the egg and maybe some fresh herbs woud be great.
Rebecca – Grilled bacon egg and cheese sandwich? Sounds good to me.
April 14th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
The madame beats the monsieur by far! Yummm.
April 21st, 2009 at 3:44 am
this looks really mean. either as Croque MAdame or Croque Monsieur…
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:56 am
[...] Croque Madame: Grilled Cheese, Ham, and Egg Sandwich Recipe from Apple, Pie, Patis, and Pate’ [...]
September 23rd, 2010 at 10:59 am
Wow. A mean recipe! Looks like from a class hotel. I’ll try this for a dinner with my wife.
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