Ingredients:
4 large Vie de France Butter croissants, sliced in half horizontally
Coarse-grain Dijon mustard
1 lb Black Forest Ham, sliced
½ cup gruyere cheese, grated
½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and cracked black pepper
6 fried eggs
Chopped chives, for garnish
Salt & pepper, for garnish
2 cups Béchamel sauce
4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk, cold
Salt, pepper, nutmeg
½ cup gruyere cheese, grated
¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
Directions:
Prepare Béchamel sauce: in large saucepan, melt butter, add flour all at once and whisk, cooking until thick but do not brown, about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in 2 cups of cold milk, bring to a boil and stir until thickened. Remove from heat, taste and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add grated cheeses, mix well. Set aside to cool.
Prepare the sandwiches: Pre-heat broiler and set rack to upper middle of oven.
Slice croissant open horizontally and lay open. Spread grainy mustard on each cut side and top bottom half of croissant with a dollop of Béchamel sauce. Top with 2-3 slices of ham and cover top half of croissant to close.
Transfer croissant sandwiches to a baking sheet. Top each croissant sandwich with 2 tbsp. of Béchamel sauce spreading it to the edges of the croissant.
Combine ½ cup gruyere cheese and ½ cup parmesan cheese and top each sandwich with a generous amount.
Season tops with salt & fresh-ground pepper. Place sandwiches under broiler for 1-3 minutes until cheese and béchamel start to bubble and edges begin to turn golden brown.
Remove from oven, top each sandwich with a fried egg and garnish with chopped chives, fresh pepper and salt.
Makes: 6 sandwiches