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I love French bistro food, and one of my favorites is the croque madame. When I started playing with this recipe for Commerce, I decided to make them bite-sized. When you make them this way, every bite is the that ideal bite from the larger sandwich.. you get the toast, a little mornay sauce, the ham, the cheese, and most importantly, the egg yolk. It’s perfect.
Makes: 48 pieces
3 Tablespoons butter
½ onion, diced (about ½ cup)
½ teaspoons salt
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 Tablespoons flour
2 cups cream
3 cups gruyere cheese
1 pound sliced ham
12 slices white bread, toasted
48 quail eggs
Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium sauce pot. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add flour and rosemary and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in cream and simmer 10 minutes. Pass through a fine mesh strainer, pressing with a spatula and discard the contents of the strainer. Whisk in 1 ½ cups gruyere.
Spread 1 Tablespoon of the sauce on each slice of toast. Top with 2-3 slices of ham, and spread another 1 Tablespoon sauce over the ham. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of gruyere over each. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. Bake in a 350 oven for 12 minutes. Cut into quarters diagonally and top each piece with a sunny side up quail egg.