Whole Grain Croque Monsieur (Or Madame)

Eggs - check. Cheese - check. Bread - check. What more could you possible ask for?!

Recipe #16 from the Newlywed Cookbook was a dream to make.

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As you can probably guess by my multiple egg posts, I love breakfast. It's quite arguably my favourite meal of the day, especially on a weekend when you have more time to create something like this.

Originally, a croque monsieur doesn't call for a poached egg on top. When added, it turns into a croque madame. When going through all the work in order to make a croque monsieur, I say go the extra mile and throw that egg on top!

We will definitely be making this again! And again, and again....

*Original recipe in Sarah Copeland's The Newlywed Cookbook

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Ingredients

- 6 tbsp unsalted butter

- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

- 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk

- 1 to 1 1/2 tsp sea salt

- Pinch of nutmeg

- Freshly ground black pepper

- 300g Gruyere cheese, grated (about 3 cups)

- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

- 4 large slices hearty seven-grain or nutty whole grain bread

- 2 tsp Dijon or whole grain mustard

- 340g ham

- 2 fresh eggs

Directions

- Preheat the broiler on your stove (to medium high if you have a choice of heat)

- Melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a small saucepan over low heat

- Sprinkle the flour over the butter in the pan and cook until smooth, but not toasted - about 2 minutes

- Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly until the milk begins to thicken - about 8 minutes

- Remove from the heat, add 1 tsp salt and the nutmeg

- Taste, and season with salt and black pepper

- Stir in 1/4 cup of the Gruyere and the Parmigiano-Reggiano

- Melt the remaining 4 tbsp butter

- Lay the bread on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter and mustard

- Divide the ham among four of the bread slices and sprinkle with 1 cup Gruyere

- Fill a pot with water and put to boil. When boiling, add a dash of vinegar and stir

- Add the eggs very carefully to poach (cracking them into a pyrex measuring cup beforehand works well). With a slotted spoon, gently swirl the water so the egg whites wrap around the eggs. Cook for only a couple of minutes

- Top the sandwich with the remaining bread

- Ladle the sauce over the sandwiches and sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere

- Broil until the sauce is bubbly and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes

- With a slotted spoon, take the eggs out of the boiling water and place on top of the sandwiches

- Serve immediately