keto croque madame

These were not, by any stretch, proper croque madames. First, they were keto, which means I couldn't use real bread. Second, I was using up leftover fondue cheese, which contained Gruyère and made for tasty sandwiches but didn't help with authenticity.

A croque madame is based on a croque monsieur, which is a sort of grilled, griddled, or pan-fried ham-and-cheese sandwich with melted Gruyère cheese on the inside and a Gruyère Mornay sauce on top (a Mornay is a Béchamel sauce plus cheese). A keto version of this sandwich can't be made with a regular Béchamel since Béchamel has flour in it (it starts with a roux base, then you add milk and seasonings). So instead of a proper Mornay, I used my leftover keto-fondue cheese and keto bread. 

A croque madame is basically a croque monsieur with a fried egg on top for that feminine touch (what's inside the fertilized egg might be masculine or feminine, but eggs are laid exclusively by hens, not roosters, so I guess that's the tie-in). Assembly today was a multi-step process, and I had to be mindful of the order: butter the bread first to get it ready for pan-frying; layer on the deli ham and some melted fondue cheese; assemble the sandwiches (I made three small ones for myself); place the pan-fried sandwiches in a baking tray; add cheeses on top that will brown under a broiler (I used a combo of mozzarella and Parmigiano); broil, then ladle on more fondue cheese and top with that fried egg. In the photos below, you'll see that one egg yolk decided to break (there's always at least one, dammit). Aside from that, the sandwiches were all pretty good, not to mention easy to slice with a steak knife.

Avengers, assemble!

closeup of one of the better eggs

You can see the hand-grated Parm.

Mister Brokenegg

overhead view

a messy cross-sectional view

As I said, these were pretty good, not to mention a good way to use up my fondue cheese. Keto pizza is happening this weekend. The madness never ends.