Croque Madame Breakfast Skillet

Happy New Year! (so I'm a few days late...current work hours have been crazy)

So this recipe breaks a few rules...it's not a sandwich like a typical croque madame, but it may be even better.  Everything is better with potatoes, right?  So I decided to skip the bread and add some hash browns.  In theory a croque madame should also involve some gruyere, but I went for a creamy mornay-like sauce.  This recipe is for one serving, but it would be easy to make in large quantities (and you could skip shredding potatoes and buy frozen hash browns to speed things along).

Ingredients:
1 potato, grated
1-2 T canola oil
ham (as much or as little as you like), cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 plus 1 T butter or oil
1/2 T flour
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/2 C milk
1/4 C parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
nutmeg
egg

First, potatoes
1. Grate the potatoes using a box grater or food processor, then soak in water for 10-15 minutes.  Rinse, then use paper towels to dry really well.
2. Warm oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
3. Fry potatoes in a single thin layer, covered, for 3-4 minutes or until browned.
4. Flip potatoes, uncover, and finish cooking the other side (another 3-4 minutes).
5. Remove to plate (if you aren't doing the sauce/egg simultaneously, consider putting plate in a 250-degree oven to keep warm)

While the potatoes are cooking, start the sauce
1. Melt butter over medium heat in a small saucepan, add the garlic at the same time as the butter
2. Once butter is completely melted, add flour and whisk together to form a roux.  Cook for a minute or so
3. Add milk and continue to whisk, a little bit at a time
4. Add salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg
5. Once milk is bubbly (a few minutes), add parmesan cheese, stir, and then remove from heat

Ham and egg
1. Warm pieces of ham in a skillet
2. Then remove ham, melt some butter or oil (about 1 T) in skillet over medium-high.  When hot, gently pour in egg
3. Cook for one minute, then flip and cook another 30 seconds, or longer if you desire your eggs more over-medium or over-hard.  Then don't accidentally break the yolk like I did.

Assemble!
Hashbrowns, then ham, then sauce, then egg!