Croque Madame
One of Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's favorite foods is the croque madame, a feminine version of the croque monsieur with the addditon of an egg of course. "The first thing I eat as soon as I get back to Paris," Julia declares, most likely stopping into her preferred restaurant, Café de Flore, to savor this treat known there as "Le Jockey."
This beloved French bar snack is traditionally made with melted Gruyère or Emmental cheese and ham, grilled to perfection between two slices of crusty bread perhaps dressed in a Mornay or Béchamel sauce with an egg sunny side up on top. In parts of Normandy they refer to this culinary comfort as croque-à-cheval. The decadent croque madame first appeared on menus in Paris in 1910 and in literature in Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu
In a pinch in France, McDonald's locations offer the "Croque McDo" sandwich. In the US, a new restaurant called Croque Madame opened recently at Kennedy Airport in New York and Chef Andrew Carmellini features the signature namesake proudly on the menu which you can order directly from the iPad attached to your booth. Located at Gates 25 and 26 in Terminal 2, Croque Madame assures the food will be delivered in ten minutes or less; in the meantime, guests can use power strips in the booth to charge electronic devices while enjoying the free wireless signal.
Croque madame or "Le Jockey" at Café de FloreEven better, try making your own croque madame at home, below is a simple recipe in both French and English. The amounts listed will make four sandwiches.
Ingrédients
8 pain de mie
4 jambon blanc
150 g de fromage râpé
60 g de beurre
4 oeufs
20 cl de crème fraîche liquide
Sel, poivre
Préparation
- Coupez légèrement le bord des tranches de pain de mie. Tartinez-les d'un peu de beurre. Coupez de fines tranches de gruyère et disposez-les sur le pain.
- Ajoutez la tranche de jambon pliée en deux. Recouvrez avec une autre tranche de pain de mie préablement beurrée.
- Dans un bol, versez le fromage râpé, ajoutez la crème épaisse, une pincée de poivre et de sel. Mélangez.
- Déposez sur les croque-madames une grosse cuillère à soupe du mélange de fromage râpé et de crème. Etalez-le délicatement sur la tranche de pain de mie et réservez. Préchauffez votre four à 180° C.
- Au moment de servir, passez au four 3 à 4 min puis au gril.
- Dans une poêle faites cuire les oeufs au plat. Déposez un oeuf sur chaque croque-madame et servez bien chaud.
Ingredients
8 slices of bread
4 slices of ham
150 g grated cheese
60 g butter
4 eggs
20 cl whipping cream
Salt, pepper
Preparation
- Trim the edges of the slices of bread. Spread them with a little butter. Cut thin slices of cheese and arrange on bread.
- Add the slice of ham folded in half. Cover with another slice of buttered bread.
- In a bowl, add grated cheese, heavy cream, and a pinch of pepper and salt. Mix.
- On toasted bread place a spoonful of the mixture of grated cheese and cream. Spread it gently on the slice of bread and reserve. Preheat oven to 360° F.
- Just before serving, broil in oven 3-4 minutes.
- In a skillet fry eggs. Place an egg on each croque madame and serve hot.
Croque madame at Croque Madame at Kennedy AirportCroque madame image courtesy of catastrophysicist.wordpress.com. Croque madame at Café de Flore photograph courtesy of foodspotting.com. Croque Madame at Kennedy Airport photograph courtesy of ultraclay.com.
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld | in Cooking, Favorites, Food, New York City, Paris, Recipes 
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