Enjoy A Taste Of Paris With This Twist On The Croque Madame

Griddle and stack a “Dinde Madame Avec Pan De Miga” with turkey instead of ham and spinach in the béchamel.

The Croque Madame. All I can really say is OMG. It is practically sinful. It is one of my all-time favorite sandwiches. So simple, but sooooo good. If you love béchamel as I do, this is the perfect sandwich that hits all the notes, except this time, I have flipped it on its head. We are doing it on the griddle using Pan de Miga* (crumb bread), turkey instead of ham, and adding spinach into the top layer of the béchamel sauce. Let’s get into this…

The Croque: I have whimsically renamed this version to the “Dinde Madame”. Dinde is French for turkey. Croque actually doesn’t translate to ham (it translates to crunch), The Croque Monsieur is made without an egg (“Mr. Crunch”) and the Croque Madame, made with a sunny side up or poached egg, translates to “Mrs. Crunch”. The sandwich as a whole is known as the “crispy bite,” but I think ham is what most of us think of when we hear it (as we should since ham is the way the sandwich is classically made). I am using the French word for turkey for this version, so let me introduce you to the “ Dinde Madame”.

If that wasn’t enough of a shock, I have also switched up the bread to Pan de Miga for a few reasons. One, I love this crustless bread not only for how thin it is but also because it can be found all over Argentina (where my husband’s Father is from) for a breakfast or party sandwich. I love how well it toasts – it’s a crustless bread – miga translating to crumb. So between the “crunchy bite” and the thin ” crustless crumb bread,” this one was a winner for me.

Finally, instead of a one-layer sandwich, I decided to stack it and do it on the griddle.

The Prep: the prep is as easy as it gets. Two pieces of pan de miga bread per sandwich, Dijon and turkey on one side, and béchamel and grated gruyere on the other side. Put them together, and start the griddle. I also suggest making the béchamel in advance – even the night before is okay.

The Béchamel: This can sound intimidating, but it is easier than you think. The main ingredient here is patience. At first, you will think there is too much milk in it, but as it starts to cook and come to a boil around the sides, it starts to thicken and turns into a velvet delight that instantly takes you to Paris in your own kitchen. Once you add the cheese, it is now technically a Mornay sauce. Then I take it a step further and add spinach to part of the batch.

Finishing: Once the béchamel is made, and the sandwich is griddled to a beautiful golden brown and delicious, that is where the fun begins. Put a little more béchamel on top of the sandwich, and pop it in the broiler until it’s melted and bubbly. Let it rest for a few minutes so you can cut it in half with confidence. While it rests, cook two eggs sunny side up and keep the béchamel sauce warm for the build.

The Build: Cut the sandwich in half. Add warmed Mornay sauce to one half of the sandwich and place an egg on top of it. Don’t do it the other way around because the heat of the sauce may end up cooking your egg more. Carefully place the second sandwich on top and add the mornay sauce with the spinach on top of that, and the other egg. Prepare yourself for heaven on a plate. The results? A fun griddled twist on a Parisian classic!

* Editor’s note: If you cannot find a local source for Pan De Miga bread, you can find it here on Amazon, though it is a bit costly. Alternatively, find a regular loaf of thinly (the thinnest possible!) sliced white bread and simply remove the crust.