Croque Madame Casserole

 

Oh wow, this is not only delicious and succulent, it's an easy dish that's also a show stopper!  It's easy because you can make the mornay sauce in advance.  All you need to do is assemble 4 sandwiches fill with ham, the cheese of your choice (we used Gruyere today), and some Dijon.  Smear some mornay on the bottom of your casserole.  Cut sandwiches rectangularly or regularly as they say, line them up in the casserole, then shmear some more mornay and top with remaining cheese.  Pop into a 375 degree oven and voila!  Bubbling succulence sure to make you say, mmmmm.

Ingredients: 

8 slices of sour dough or any other white bread, 8-12  thin slices of ham, 2 1/2 cups shredded gruyere (1 cup cheese for sauce, the rest divided amongst the sandwiches), 2 tbsp. Dijon, 4 tbsp. butter, 1/4 cup flour, 2 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 tsp. favorite herb mixture like, herbs de Provence, pinch nutmeg, 2 tbsp. grated Parmesan.

Mornay Sauce:  

Over medium heat, melt 4 tbsp. butter into pot, add flour and whisk, then add the milk and whisk more.  Add nutmeg and herbs de Provence.  When the sauce comes to a gentle boil, add 1 cup of cheese.  Whisk away and turn the heat off.  

For the Sandwiches: 

Lay out two pieces of bread at a time.  Add Dijon on one side of bread, then on the other piece of bread add some of the divided up cheese and ham.  Put the Dijon piece of bread over the cheese and ham side and cut in half.  Repeat. 

In a buttered casserole dish, add 1 cup of sauce into the casserole dish.  Add cut assembled sandwiches to fill the casserole.  Top with remaining sauce and cheese.  

Pop into the 375 degree oven for 40 minutes.  

About 5 minutes before you take it out of the oven, crack an egg or few over top of casserole.  Put back into the oven and when you take it out, the eggs should be medium. Bon appetite!