When it comes to eating out at brunch I am usually pretty predictable. I always choose eggs benedict (for mornings when I’ve overindulged the night before) or opt for traditional basics like an All-American breakfast or blueberry pancakes. A few weeks ago I went to brunch and couldn’t stop pondering what their rendition of Croque Madame would taste like, with goat cheese and orange marmalade verse the traditional gruyère and béchamel sauce. I was intrigued and went for it and it was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. After incessantly telling Nate for weeks about my delicious meal I finally made it for him (with homemade orange marmalade nonetheless) and he agreed: it was truly delicious. The bittersweet marmalade with creamy and tart goat cheese is perfectly balanced by the faint sweetness of the French toast style sourdough bread (fresh from our favorite bakery) complete with salty ham and gooey fried eggs. Go ahead, try it. You’ll never want blueberry pancakes again.
- Butter
- Six eggs
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- Four slices thick sourdough bread
- Six tablespoons orange marmalade
- Five tablespoons goat cheese
- Six slices ham
- Diced red potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper
- Cook potatoes as desired (we grilled ours on the Traeger!).
- Whisk two of the eggs with the nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Heat a griddle and melt butter. Turn the oven on 200 degrees (or warming mode).
- Dip one side of two slices of the bread in the egg mixture French toast-style and place on the griddle dipped side down. Spread the goat cheese, orange marmalade, and ham on the bread.
- Dip one side of the remaining two slices of bread and place non-dipped side down on the open face sandwich. Carefully flip the sandwich and grill the other side until browned.
- Place sandwiches in the oven to keep warm.
- Re-butter griddle and fry eggs to desired consistency (we made ours over-medium).
- Remove sandwiches from oven and place fried eggs over it. Add potatoes and enjoy!
