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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Croque Madame – Grilled Cheese, Ham, and Egg Sandwich

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6. Potato, Cheddar Cheese, and Chive Bread

Mushroom toasts are a great way to use up stale bread. It could also serve as a bold top half for your version of The World’s Greatest Sandwich or as a worthy excuse to fire up your George Foreman grill or panini press*.

I don’t really care for any of that, though.

I like making these because they look cool. Mushroom cross-sections seared with grill marks are somehow aesthetically appealing to me. Come to think of it, anything with grill marks causes shameless culinary swooning within me. Perhaps it’s a guy thing.

The taste, as good as can be expected from the spartan ingredient list of crusty bread, mushrooms, and extra virgin olive oil, comes second. I hope there’s nothing wrong with admitting that.

* I used a cast iron press because I’m broke, have zero counter space, and avoid kitchen electronics whenever possible.

recipe adapted from Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever
Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Anna

Cremini Mushroom Toast

makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 slices crusty white OR whole wheat bread (preferably sourdough) OR brioche
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
12–16 cremini mushrooms, very thinly sliced
kosher salt or coarse sea salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Brush one side of each slice of bread with olive oil. Place the mushrooms in a row on the unoiled side of the bread, slightly overlapping (the mushrooms will shrink slightly after grilling). Brush the mushrooms with olive oil and season with salt.
2. Place the bread, mushroom side up, in a preheated panini-style grill or between a hot cast iron skillet and press. Grill with your equipment of choice and apply enough pressure to slightly smash the bread.
3. Grill for about 3 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and the mushrooms are sizzling and cooked through.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Cremini Mushroom Toast

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6. Gambas al Ajillo – Simplest Garlic Shrimp Tapas

Inspired by this New York Times article about seven new sandwiches, I felt like making something I have never tried before. The Chili Mackerel Man Tou (Chinese steamed bread) and Knish Press sandwiches sounded really interesting but sounded a bit too complicated for a quick mid-afternoon snack. I have never tried Merguez sausages and had freshly baked homemade baguettes on hand, so I immediately knew what to make from the article.

The Merguez sausages used were a mixture of beef and lamb. There was a faint hint of heat from paprika and cayenne, but the addition of harissa should quickly crank the heat level towards incendiary.

Sandwich Merguez Au Harissa

For the Moroccan Harissa:

recipe from The New York Times

Notes:

• I’m considering replacing my bottle of Sriracha with harissa. It seems to go well with, uh, anything.

To make the sandwich:

Merguez sausages
olive oil
crusty bread
tomatoes, thinly sliced
cucumbers, thinly sliced
green olives, chopped

Pan-fry the Merguez sausages in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. Lightly toast the bread if desired.

Assemble the sandwich and drizzle with a bit of harissa. I would go into more detail about the mechanics of proper sandwich construction but that’s probably not necessary, is it?

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Sandwich Merguez Au Harissa

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2. Cremini Mushroom Toast
3. Lamb with Fava Beans and Green Almonds