I adore Croque Madame Sandwiches. A Croque Monsieur Sandwich is a fried ham & cheese sandwich topped with a layer of bechamel and grilled.
It becomes a Croque Madame when you add a fried egg to the top. Yes . . . not for the weak of heart! I have only ever made them once and they were to die for. You can read about that experience here. So, so, so good!
I like to think that this version is a bit lighter . . . and I can vouch for it being a lot easier! They go together lickety split and make an excellent light supper for two (easily multiplied) along with a salad on the side.
For this recipe I am using medium to small eggs, only because larger eggs would not stay on top without overflowing the crust onto the baking tray.
The base for these delicious and easy pizzas are Deli Kitchen's new Greek Style Flatbreads! Soft, pliable and perfect for these Croque Madame Pizzas! You could also use Naan bread with good results.
I have an excellent recipe for a Yeast Free Naan Bread that would also be excellent for these delicious pizzas.
You are going to love these! They are such a doddle to make. As easy as mixing together a cheese/sour cream topping to spread over the flat breads . . . then layering on pancetta and eggs and baking.
The cheese mixture uses two kinds of cheese . . . strong cheddar and Gruyere, which is a nutty sweet type of Swiss cheese. I love it!
This gets mixed with some sour cream, Dijon mustard and a splash of Worcestershire sauce . . . and then spread onto the flat breads.
On top of that you arrange some thinly sliced pancetta . . . Italian bacon . . . mild and smoky and so tasty. You want to make little cradles/nests to break the eggs into . . .
I used medium eggs today. Normally I use large eggs in all of my cooking, but I felt they would be too large and overflow, and in all truth even the medium ones did a bit, so you might want to go for small eggs.
It doesn't really matter or affect the taste if they do . . . its just a matter of aesthetics.
And that's it! Just pop them into the oven and bake them for about 20 minutes, depending on how well done you like your eggs.
At 20 minutes the yolks were nice and creamy . . . not runny. If you want runny, you might want to do them for less time. Just keep checking.
Altogether these are fabulously tasty! You are sure to fall in love with them. They are great for the weekend when you are wanting something a little bit heartier for breakfast . . .
They also make a great, quick and easy weeknight supper for two. All you need is some salad on the side perhaps.
Look at how nice, rich and golden brown that cheese topping is . . .
I can promise you that it tastes every bit as delicious as it looks. Honestly . . . I could have eaten just that on the flat bread and nothing else!
My husband really, REALLY enjoyed this. He had been outside mowing the grass before the rain started again . . . and had worked up a bit of an appetite!
I love it when he enjoys the things I cook for him. It makes me very happy. It also makes him happy as well! He doesn't normally like pizza, but this kind . . . he does!
Yield: 2
Croque Madame Pizzas
A recipe I adapted to serve two people. This makes a fabulous supper with some salad on the side!
ingredients:
- 2 Greek Style Soft Flatbreads
- 4 medium free range eggs
- 8 thin rashers of pancetta or streaky bacon
- 30g grated strong cheddar cheese (1/4 cup)
- 30g grated Gruyere Cheese (1/4 cup)
- 60g dairy sour cream (1/4 cup)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- salt and black pepper to taste
instructions:
How to cook Croque Madame Pizzas
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the two flatbreads onto it.
- Stir together both cheeses, the sour cream, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce to combine well. Divide evenly and spread onto one side of each flat bread. Top each
- Using the slices of Pancetta, arrange them on the top of the cheese mixture on each flat bread so as to make two circles with an open space in the middle to hold the egg. Carefully crack one egg into each so that it is contained.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is golden and the egg is just cooked. Season with salt and black pepper to serve.
An added bonus is the smell of the pancetta cooking while the pizzas bake. Oh so yummy.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
I can remember the first time I tasted Honey Mustard. It was at my SIL's place in Toronto. It was Honeycup Mustard and I have to say it was love at first taste!
It was sweet and hot and I love, LOVE, LOVED it! I quite adore Honey Mustard anyways!
Honeycup Mustard is not something you find very often over here in the UK. In fact its not something you see at all.
I should really explore trying to make my own Honeycup Mustard. Adding another thing to my "honey-do" list!
Honey mustard has a wonderful affinity with chicken. I do enjoy it with ham also, but it really pops when you use it with chicken.
Today I have added it to a creamy sauce which has been adapted from a recipe I found on the Donna Hay site, and down-sized to feed only two people.
It only makes sense when I like to present you with something new and fresh every day!
This recipe uses skin-on chicken leg quarters, which contain the thigh and the drumstick. This isn't a cut of chicken that I use very often.
Personally I am not overly fond of chicken drumsticks . . . but they work really well here.
These get browned in a skillet, and then removed. After that you cook some streaky bacon and halved baby potatoes in the drippings. BACON! Count me in!
I only buy nitrate free bacon now. It is a rare treat to have bacon at all because we are trying to avoid processed meats, but its nice every now and then and when I do, it's always nitrate free. You are what you eat.
I used Jersey Royal baby potatoes, which are a special type of potato which is grown on the Isle of Jersey. I love them.
They have a nutty taste and a firm texture. They actually have a protected designation of origin. These potatoes only come from Jersey. You can substitute any new potato however in this recipe.
I got my potatoes nice and golden brown on all the cut edges . . .
Once they are golden you return the chicken pieces to the pan and you pour a mixture of mustard, cream, honey and water around them in the pan.
You will want to make sure you have used an oven-proof pan to begin with. (Sorry I should have mentioned that sooner!)
The whole thing gets covered and then popped into the oven where it is braised for a time . . .
then uncovered . . . and you stick some sprigs of thyme in amongst the chicken and potatoes and it is returned to the oven to braise for a while longer, uncovered.
This was TOTALLY delicious! Tender chicken, bacon and potatoes . . . with a fabulously tasty and creamy sauce. If you don't like to use cream, you could use no fat evaporated milk.
Honey Mustard Chicken & Potatoes
Yield: 2
Tender and succulent pieces of chicken and bacon with potatoes in a lush honey mustard cream.
ingredients:
- 2 tsp light olive oil
- 2 chicken leg/thigh quarters
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 rashers of streaky bacon, cut in half crosswise
- 8 baby potatoes, cut in half lengthwise
- 125ml single pouring cream (1/2 cup, half and half)
- 2 TBS Dijon mustard
- 1 TBS liquid honey
- 125ml water (1/2 cup)
- sprigs of thyme (3 or 4)
instructions:
How to cook Honey Mustard Chicken & Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch oven proof skillet over medium high heat. (I use my cast iron) Season the chicken pieces all over with salt and black pepper. Brown on both sides in the hot oil, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and keep warm. Add the bacon to the pan along with the halved potatoes. Cook the bacon until crisp, removing as it gets down. Brown the potatoes all over.
- Return the bacon and chicken to the pan, nestling them around the potatoes. Whisk together the cream, water, mustard, and honey. Pour around the chicken in the pan. Bring to the boil, then cover. Roast, covered, in the hot oven for about 15 minutes. Uncover and stick the thyme springs in here and there. Return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes or so, until the chicken juices run clear and the potatoes are tender.
- Divide the chicken pieces, bacon and potatoes between two heated plates, spooning some of the creamy sauce over top.
I used my cast iron skillet for this. I love my cast iron skillet. It is only a 12 inch one, but that is the perfect size for us and in all truth with my arthritis I doubt I could do anything much heavier. I steamed us some broccoli, cauliflower and carrots to enjoy on the side!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan@aol.com
I think one of my favourite salad combinations has to be fresh greens tossed together with roasted beetroot (beets) and goat's cheese. For a girl who only ever ate processed cheese slices and Velveeta cheeses (if you can even call them cheese, lol) when I was growing up, I can say that I now have a very well developed cheese palate! That's what becoming a Chef did for me. It truly broadened my taste horizons . . .
Today (Saturday as I write this) we were able to watch the annual Trooping of the Colours on the television with the Birthday Parade for the Queen at the Horse Guards Parade in London, down the mall from Buckingham Palace.
NOBODY does pageantry, pomp and ceremony like the British! What a wonderful display this annual parade this is, filled with colour and tradition and music.
I just love it! I love seeing all of the Royal family and their children. Seeing what the girls are wearing . . .
Its always incredibly elegant! This was Megan's first appearance since the birth of little Archie and she looked lovely in Navy and White.
Kate did not disappoint in her lovely lemon coloured dress, and of course this was the first time we have seen little Prince Louis publicly in this way. He was charming with his waves and clapping from the royal balcony at the palace during the fly pass!
I took the opportunity to bake us some special cookies that we could enjoy with a hot cup of lemon tea as we watched the event. Lemon Lime Shortbreads!
You can't get much more elegant than shortbread cookies/biscuits! Crisp and buttery . . . they almost flake in your hands . . . perfect.
These are even more perfect because they are filled with little dimples of lemon curd prior to baking. Oh so tasty . . .
I use my own homemade Lemon Curd . . . but you can use any good quality store brand if you wish. Oh, I do so love LOVE Lemon Curd, don't you?
The biscuits themselves are infused lightly with the flavours of a good vanilla paste and the finely zested peel of a fresh lime, along with some of the juice . . .
A lime juice icing glaze gets flicked over the finished cookies . . . adding even more lovely citrus flavours . . . lemon & lime . . . a beautiful combination!
These truly are lovely . . .
The occasion also afforded me the opportunity to break out some of my vintage linens . . . the edges decorated in pink . . .
My Katie Alice tea service goes wonderfully with these delicate linens . . .
We almost felt like Royals ourselves . . .
We even practised the wave with each other . . . in another life maybe. I wonder what it feels like to grow up or live in such an atmosphere of privilege . . . a double edged sword I can imagine.
I am so happy that the two princes were able to marry for love . . .
Looking at them all on the balcony, at William and Harry and their wives . . . and William's children . . . I could not help but shed a tear for what Diana has missed out on . . . just wasn't to be I guess . . . so sad. I am sure she looks down on them often and is very proud of the men they have become.
I think this is largely because of her and her influence. I really do. They had the most "normal" of upbringings that any Royals ever had, and they are good men.
In any case do bake these cookies. You will quite simply adore them!
Yield: 42 cookies
Lemon Lime Shortbreads
Crisp, short buttery shortbread cookies, infused with lovely lime flavours, a lemon curd filling and a lime icing glaze. Seriously moreish!
ingredients:
For the Cookies:
- 230g unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 cup)
- 130g granulated sugar (2/3 cup)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla
- the juice of 1/2 fresh lime
- the finely grated zest of one small lime
- pinch salt
- 280g +2 TBS plain flour (2 cups + 2TBS)
- lemon curd to fill
For the Glaze:
- 130g icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)
- the juice of 1/2 lime
instructions:
How to cook Lemon Lime Shortbreads
- Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla bean paste/vanilla, salt, and lime juice and zest together in a bowl until creamy with an electric whisk, scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically. Add the flour in 3 parts until well combined. Cover and chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line several baking trays with baking paper.
- Shape the chilled dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Make an indention in the centre of each, using the end of a wooden spoon. Don't try to push it in too deeply, only about halfway down. I rotate it a tiny bit to make the hole about 1/3 inch in diameter. Fill each hole with heaped 1/4 tsp of lemon curd.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until puffed and the edges are golden brown. Leave to rest on the trays for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Whisk the icing sugar and lime juice together until you have a smooth drizzle icing. Flick over the cooled cookies and allow to set. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Yummity yummity yum yum yum! Betcha can't eat just one!
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