Chef Bailey's La Croque Mesdames
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Serves: 1
The Croque Madame is already better than the Monsieur — but Chef Bailey Thielmann of @mainlysandwiches spotted the flaw: that golden yolk only hits one or two bites. Enter Spring Creek quail eggs. Now every single bite has that rich, runny centre the sandwich always deserved.
Ingredients
- Brioche bread, sliced
- ham, sliced
- Gruyère cheese, grated
- Spring Creek quail eggs
- Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp flour
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
Instructions
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 1 tsp butter. Add 1 tsp flour and stir well to combine. Slowly whisk in milk until smooth. Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened. Add a pinch of salt and fresh nutmeg. Keep warm.
Spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on a slice of brioche. Pile on ham as desired, cover with a generous amount of Gruyère, and top with a second slice of brioche.
Toast the sandwich in a heavily buttered pan over low heat until the cheese is fully melted and the bread is deeply golden. Remove from pan.
In the same pan over low heat, add more butter if needed and fry the quail eggs covered for 2–3 minutes until whites are just set.
While the eggs cook, spoon béchamel over the top of the sandwich and cover with more Gruyère.
Melt and char the cheese with a kitchen torch or under the broiler.
Place fried quail eggs on top, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.
