What is a Croque Madame?
Nothing more than a Croque Monsieur with a sunny side up fried egg on top of it or in French, Croque-monsieur surmonté d’un œuf sur le plat.
And what is a Croque Monsieur?
A croque monsieur is traditionally a sandwich made with ham, in a brioche like bread, and topped with grated cheese, seasoned with salt and pepper and then The sandwich is then buttered and baked or fried. Traditionally, it does not have any sauce, and the cheeses used are usually Emmental, Gruyère or even Comté for a creamier and stronger taste. Some Brasseries do add the béchamel sauce, which I love, but most commonly it was only crispy melted cheese.
It was referred as Croque Monsieur for the first time on the menu of a cafe in Paris back in 1910, and appeared in 1918 in a book written by Proust – In Search of Lost Time.
History done! My challenge was to modify the bread, and bechamel sauce to make it fit the keto way of eating. So, what did I do? First used my microwave English muffin recipe that I love. For a more sweet bread mimicking the brioche, you can add a bit of sweetener and a dash of cream. I did not. So, bread problem solved?
And the béchamel? Traditionally bechamel is made using wheat flour and milk, totally not keto. I decided to use cream and butter, and let it slowly reduce in a pan, with a bay leaf, until I got a bechamel like consistency. Seasoned it with nutmeg, black pepper and salt, et voilá, mon béchamel!
The purists may crucify me, but as I always say, it is not possible to mimic 100% some traditional recipes, but using creativity and palate, you can get a pretty much close version.
Keto Croque Madame
Ingredients
Method
For the English muffins click on this link for the recipe https://heelsandspices.com/2018/02/speedy-lchf-english-muffin/
For the "Béchamel"
Add the bay leaf, cream and butter to a pan and let it slowly reduce in low heat. Season with nutmeg, salt and black pepper.
To assemble:
Be very very happy
Yum!! I can’t wait to try this for my breakfast this morning! Thank you for the recipe!
Here is almost dinner tine
I used to love Croque Madame and this looks so good. I will first try your English Muffin with a different flour and then maybe I can have Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame back in my life!😋