Croque Madame Sauce (quick & easy recipe!) - Heavenly Home Cooking (2024)

FAQs

What is croque madame made of? ›

The French croque madame sandwich is a lesson in extravagance, made with white bread, butter, cheese, ham, Mornay sauce, and a fried egg. It's a luxurious, deeply comforting dish.

A croque madame is simply a croque monsieur with a poached or fried egg on top. The difference between the two sandwiches has to do with how the egg is incorporated into the rest of the ingredients: In a croque monsieur, the bread is dipped into the beaten egg before it's cooked (French toast-style).

When the sandwich features a fried egg, it's called a croque madame, as the egg resembles a woman's wide-brimmed hat. Croque madame sandwiches are sometimes served open-faced, without a slice of bread on top, like this one from @toastsforall.

croquer (manger):

to crunch. Preselect for export to vocabulary trainer.

I love a Monte Cristo! It's a fried sandwich with ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, and mustard dipped in beaten egg and pan-fried until golden and gooey for a delicious alternative to your usual ham and cheese sandwich. Great with berry jam on the side.

If you can't find Gruyere then Emmenthal would be a good substitute. However if neither of these cheeses are available in your area then we suggest using a combination of half mature (sharp) cheddar and half firm mozzarella, to give stretchy, stringily melting cheese with a good flavour.

A Monte Cristo sandwich is a variation of the croque monsieur, but with the addition of sliced turkey added the ham and Swiss cheese. Also, this sandwich is dipped in an egg batter, like French toast, and pan-fried instead of grilled, until golden brown.

Most croque monsieur origin stories point to Le Bel Age café and proprietor Michel Lunarca as the instigator of the croque. It's said that around 1910, the so-called “crunchy mister” got its name when Lunarca told patrons his broiled sandwiches featured “mister meat.”

In its native France, a croque Monsieur is mainly eaten for lunch or an evening meal along with a crisp green salad or maybe some shoestring chips. In other parts of the world it may be eaten with a small bowl of tomato soup. You can also cut a golden croque monsieur into fingers and serve it at a co*cktail party.

Who invented croque? ›

A history of the Croque Monsieur

Its origins were humble. Bistro owner Michel Lunarca popularised the dish in the early 1900s as a simple snack for busy Parisiens. Especially meaning 'mister crunch', the sandwich is a new riff on an old theme.

So a Croque-Monsieur roughly translates to "Mister Crunchy". The feminine version, a Croque Madame, includes a fried egg on top. This classic French bistro sandwich is a great way to use up leftover ham.

First served in 1910 in a café on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, the croque-monsieur is a classic dish offered in many cafés, brasseries and more casual spots. Composed of two slices of buttered sandwich bread, topped with melted cheese and slices of ham, this hot sandwich can be presented in many ways.

The best way to eat a Croque Madame is to use a knife and fork to cut into the sandwich and enjoy each bite with a bit of everything – the crispy bread, the creamy béchamel, the gooey cheese, the savory ham, and the rich, runny egg yolk.

The Croque Madame, on the other hand, is a variation of the Croque Monsieur that includes an additional ingredient: a fried egg on top.

What Is Mornay Sauce? Mornay sauce is a cheesy variation on béchamel sauce, one of the five foundational French mother sauces. Mornay sauce features a base of flour, milk, egg, and butter, kept warm enough to melt a mix of freshly grated parmesan and gruyère, producing a thick, velvety white cheese sauce.