From the Kitchens of Bunny and Brandy: Inside out Croque Madame with Emmi Cheese

If there is a one flaw in Brandy's personality, it might be said that it's that she gets bored very easily.  She is often to be found with the various chaise lounges in her sitting room all askew simply because their arrangement had become tedious.  Sometimes she pulls apart embroidery projects she'd been working on for months simply so that she could start a new design.  And sometimes she likes to re-arrange her brunch foods.

In fact, one spot of restlessness had Brandy pondering the Croque Madame, that bastion of European breakfast food lovers everywhere.  "Funnily enough, a dish so easily identifiable as French gets some of its signature flavor from a Swiss cheese, usually Emmantaler or Gruyere," as Brandy points out, "Personally, I adore the nuttiness of a Gruyere on my Croque Madames, but the smooth, fruitiness of an Emmantaler is lovely too."

Recently, Brandy had the chance to sample some products from Emmi USA, a purveyor of fine authentic cheeses from Switzerland, and tasting their mild, buttery Gruyere immediately gave her an idea.  "I think a Croque Madame could only be made better by putting a cheese like this at the center of it...say, that's not a bad idea!"

And so, the Inside Out Croque Madame was born; a pocket of gooey, nutty cheese in the center of a perfectly cooked egg, accented with some salty Canadian bacon, topped with crunchy panko bread crumbs, and served with a bechamel with even more cheese and browned just a little bit to bring out the nuttiness.

The writers of this blog were sent products by Emmi USA in order to facilitate the writing of this post.

Inside Out Croque Madame

2 cups of whole milk
4 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
1 block of Emmi Le Gruyere, 1/2 shredded and 1/2 cubed into 1 inch pieces
salt and pepper to taste
12 slices of Canadian bacon
12 large eggs
1/3 cup of panko bread crumbs

In a medium sauce pan, carefully heat the milk over low heat.  In a second saucepan, melt the butter.  Add the flour to the butter and whisk until the mixture is smooth and slightly browned.  Slowly add in the milk, whisking to make sure there are no lumps.  Once all the milk has been added and the mixture is smooth, add the shredded cheese, salt, and pepper.  Simmer on low until ready to serve.

Lightly grease a muffin tin and preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Make a slit in each bacon slice half way through the center and curl them into a wide cone shape to fit into each cup.  Add a cube of cheese on top of each bacon slice.  Crack an egg into each cup.  Top each egg with a few pinches of panko bread crumbs, enough to cover the top.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Serve warm with sauce.