When I first saw my friend Pauline of Munch Ministry post her picture of her croque madame on Facebook, I knew I had to make some to try. But because I didn’t have a muffin tin, I tried it out with my ramekins – yes, that was how desperate I was but ramekins are a lot deeper than muffin tins so instead of just 1 slice of bread per croque madame, I had to use 2. Taste-wise, we agreed that it was good, but I knew it would have been better if I used a muffin tin and so I went to get one.
And it turned out well, the way I expected it to be!
Pauline gave me the Youtube link to watch how Rachel Khoo makes the croque madame so I have embedded the video here for your reference at the end of the post (after the printable recipe).
Recipe-wise, I have tried following Rachel Khoo’s version with the exception of adding nutmeg and dijon mustard to the bechamel sauce and using a mixture of mozzarella and red cheddar instead and I’ve also made another version of my own (still omitting nutmeg and dijon mustard, but including onion and mushroom). I love both but I prefer the one with mushrooms because I’m such a die-hard fan of white button mushrooms!
On a side-note, I tried baking my croque madame for 15 minutes for the runny egg yolk as per recommended in the video but mine were already fully cooked through by then so I reduced the timing to about 12min to get runny egg yolks in my oven. So just in case your oven is as hot as mine, you may want to check on your croque madame after 12 minutes!
Ok, so in case you’re interested in making yours with mushrooms too, here’s my croque madame recipe!
- 2-3 white button mushrooms, diced
- ¼ small yellow onion, diced finely
- 1-2 tablespoons butter, melted (for brushing on the bread)
- 200ml milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon plain all-purpose flour
- unsalted mixed herbs
- salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 slice ham of choice
- 6 small eggs
- 6 slices white bread
- Melt 1-2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and set aside.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add in the diced onion. Sweat the onions till they turn translucent then add in the mushrooms.
- When the mushrooms have started to release their juices, add in the flour.
- Pour in 200ml of milk, slowly, whisking as you add in in portions to avoid lumps.
- Season the sauce with salt, mixed herbs and freshly ground black pepper to your preference. Set aside.
- Cut the crusts off 6 slices of bread and roll them out to half their thickness with a rolling pin.
- Brush the bread with butter and place them into a muffin tin.
- Distribute the ham among the six slices of bread (either tear or cut it).
- If using large eggs, crack and pour some of the egg white into a bowl before tipping the rest into the muffin tin (or there'll be no space for the sauce).
- Distribute the sauce among the 6 slices of bread in the tin and top with shredded cheese of choice.
- Brush edges of the bread with melted butter.
- Preheat oven to 180degC and bake for 12-15 minutes. Check at the 12 minute mark if the egg yolks are runny. If you prefer a fully cooked yolk, bake for additional 3-5 minutes.
http://youtu.be/muRLOLmkEjc
For the full list of egg-related recipes on the blog, please check out the Egg Dishes Index on the blog.
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