Croque-Madame...Oui Monsieur!

StB and her dad have been raving about something called a "Croque-Madame."  I am extremely uncultured, so initially I thought that this meant "dead lady" in Spanish.  How wrong I was.  Croque-Madame actually translates (roughly, in French) as "Miz Crunch," and is a far tastier and more wholesome dish than "Captain Crunch," which was one of my favorite breakfast cereals growing up (this cereal contains fiberglass, which allows the Crunch to enter your bloodstream much faster).  Anyway, the Croque-Madame is a glorious invention involving an elegant combination of French toast, ham, Gruyere (or Emmental), and fried egg.  It's a staple of French cafe fare- and it makes one helluva breakfast.  Prepared without the egg, this sandwich is called a "Croque-Monsieur."  Prepared at McDonald's it becomes a "Croque-McDo" (not even kidding).  Substitute chorizo sausage and it's a "Croque-Basquaise."  Basquaise is French for Both "Basque woman" and "Basque chicken" (and you wonder why we hate the French).  I tweaked the Croque-Madame recipe a little and tried one for myself.  Here's how it went...

Instead of ham, I cooked thinly sliced prosciutto in a saute pan until crunchy.

The French toast batter was prepared with 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of cream, and 2 tablespoons each of water, agave syrup and vegetable oil.

Slices of French bread were dipped lightly in the batter, fried until crispy and golden brown, then topped with copious amounts of melted Gruyere.

The eggs were fried over-easy in unsalted butter.

If I were to do this again, I would use a better quality prosciutto and add either a sweet or sour element to the dish.  I'm thinking maple syrup, honey, or a good hollandaise sauce... you can never have too much flavor, even for breakfast .