Happy National Sandwich Day – Le Croque Madame Sandwich

Today, in honor of national sandwich day, I said I wasn’t going to do a lot of personal writing. I was just going to let the sandwich speak for itself. Oh, well.

There is an issue I have been wrestling with for quite some time now.

Recently, I went to the homecoming game of the high school where my husband teaches. I looked around at the high school aged girls and noticed (don’t make it creepy), every single one of them was wearing Ugg boots and skinny jeans.

This brought to mind a moral dilemma. As a 27 year old married woman, am I too old to wear Ugg Boots?

Now, men do not understand Ugg boots. They think that they are the dumbest looking things ever made. I don’t blame them for judging on the way things look…. It’s just their nature.

If you have the luxury of owning a pair, you know they are like walking on a cloud and on cold fall/winter days, they keep your feet so warm and toasty.

My Uggs have been through many a snow storm and terrible tucked in sweatpants incidents, so they are really looking weathered these days.

They kind of remind me of this blue robe my mom had when I was younger. This thing was so beat up and covered in barf and spit up stains, but it was loved.

We used to think it had magical powers. Whenever we were sick, my mom would have that old blue robe on, and give us a hug. We would nestle our heads into that old robe or touch its softness with our hands, and feel ten times better.

No matter how nasty that robe looked, my mom still wore it because it was comforting for us and comfortable for her. As a matter of fact, I believe she still has that robe in her closet.

My most favorite comfort outfit is my black yoga pants tucked into my Ugg boots topped with my old college sorority barn dance sweat shirt and an old black knit hat. I guess I shouldn’t care so much what people think (even though I do look like Justin Bieber’s androgynous older sibling), and just take comfort in my clothing.

This sandwich is my ode to the Ugg boot. Le Croque Madame. The Crunchy Lady. It is so easy to make, really isn’t the best thing for you, and really isn’t all that pretty, but it tastes so warm and comforting.

Kind of like eating an Ugg? (Seriously, I don’t know where I come up with this stuff?)

Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches)

1 (store-bought) RoastedTurkeyBreast*

2 Eggs

A Good loaf of Sourdough Bread, cut into four thick slices

2 TBSP of Butter

2 TBSP Spicy Mustard

½ Cup White Wine

2 Cups Shredded Swiss Cheese (Gruyere will do as well).

1 TSP Chopped Fresh Parsley

1 TSP Salt

1 TSP Pepper

*You can roast your own turkey breast, but seriously, who has the time. And, unfortunately, every day is not Thanksgiving. The traditional Croque Madame recipe calls for sliced ham, so use it or don’t use it. Either way it is damn good.

To make the sauce you will need a small sauce pan. Heat the wine to a simmer over medium/low heat. Allow some of the alcohol to cook out for two minutes. Add in the cheese, salt, and pepper. Cook the sauce until the cheese melts into a thick gooey sauce. Add in the parsley, stir, remove from heat, and cover with a lid.

 

Cut a hole out of two slices of sourdough. (That hole is where the egg is going to go). Spread each side of the slice of bread with a thin layer of butter, this includes the non-holey slice as well.

In a medium skillet or on a griddle, toast each side of the bread for about five minutes, until golden.

When you flip the slices of bread with the hole in it, crack an egg right into that hole. Cook the egg as you like it. I like my eggs a little runny.

 

When the egg has cooked to your liking, remove it from the heat. Build your sandwich. Bottom slice of toasted sourdough with spicy mustard on it, roasted turkey breast, swiss cheese wine sauce, then top it off with the egg-in-a-hole slice of sourdough.

 

Cut the sandwich in half so the egg yolk joins with the cheese sauce in a perfect messy union.

 

Seriously, did this comparison between Ugg boots and Le Croque Madame make sense? I don’t know.

 

But, I guess if you’re still reading and now drooling over this sandwich, I must have done something right.