Bacon, egg and cheese muffins with bechamel sauce

We love these little crunchy egg cups. Two per person, with a tossed salad makes the perfect Summertime supper.

This recipe is based of the French “Croque Madame” that uses nutmeg and Comte cheese. I saw Rachel Khoo make them on her cooking show, “The Little Paris Kitchen” and I thought my family would love them. Good news is, they do, and more good news, they are super easy to make!

Start by whipping up a quick béchamel sauce. Sounds hard…couldn’t be any easier.

Using a rolling-pin, flatten a slice of sandwich bread.

Lightly butter the bread on both sides and place it in a muffin tin cup.

Tear 1 slice of cooked bacon into pieces and add to the bread cup.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of béchamel sauce over the bacon.

Now it’s time to add an egg. Depending on the amount of room you have left, you might need to pour off some of the egg white before you add the egg, like I did.

Add about a tablespoon of cheddar cheese to the top and run into a preheated oven at 350′. I cooked ours for about 12 minutes, but you can cook more or less depending on how you like your egg.

Because you buttered both sides of the bread, it gets really crisp and the butter layer on the inside keeps the béchamel and egg from making the bread soggy. No body wants soggy bread…as a matter of fact, I don’t think I recall anything attached to the word soggy being good.

Served with a salad, it’s hard to beat.

No imagine you’ve got a crowd over for breakfast. How easy would this be to mass produce!

~ Caroline

 

Bechamel sauce

Into a small sauce pan over medium heat add the following

1 tablespoon salted butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

200 ml of whole milk

cook the butter and flour, whisking until it forms a smooth paste

add the whole milk and  whisk over heat until the sauce thickens

add salt and pepper to taste

 

Bacon, egg and cheese cups

3 tablespoons softened butter for buttering the bread

6 slices of sandwich bread

6 slices of cooked bacon

béchamel sauce

6 eggs

6 tablespoons sharp cheddar cheese

Flatten the bread using a rolling-pin and butter both side of the bread.

Fit the bread into the cups of a muffin tin.

Add 1 slice of bacon to the bottom of each bread cup.

Pour 1 to 2 tablespoons of béchamel sauce over the bacon.

Add an egg to each bread cup. If your egg is extra-large, you might need to pour off some of the egg white so it will fit nicely into the cup.

Top the egg with about 1 tablespoon of grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Cook in a preheated oven at 350′ for about 12 minutes, then check the eggs to make sure they are cooked to your taste.