Croque Madame
i am sharing a more classic version wit ha bechamel, but a simple deep bread in egg and ham and cheese fried wit ha fried egg over the top is probably muy favourite!
Ingredients
- 20 g Butter
- 20 g Flour
- 250 ml Milk (50g +200g)
- 250 g gruyere or mature Cheddar Cheese, grated (50g +200g)
- 2 eggs
- 8 Slices batch Bread
- 8 slices Ham
- Salt & pepper
- 4 eggs for frying
Method
- Firstly, make the bechamel sauce.
- in a heavy based saucepan, Melt the butter over a low heat. Sprinkle the flour into the butter and cook gently for 1 minutes until the roux is of white colour.
- Slowly pour 200ml of milk onto the roux and increase the heat to medium. Whisk continuously until it comes to the boil and add the seasoning. Cook for a further 2-4 minutes to ensure the flour is cooked through. Remove from the heat and stir in 50g of the grated cheddar.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs with the rest of milk. Season with salt and pepper.
- Lay the bread slices on a flat work surface. Spread some bechamel on each slices of bread. add more cheese and layer the slices of ham.
- Sandwich the prepared slices of bread two together to have four croque madame.
- Over medium heat, drizzle some oil and add some butter.
- once melted, deep the sandwich in the egg mixture and transfer immediately onto the sauté pan.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side over medium / low heat, until warmed through. Cover with a lid if needed to help cook faster.
- Alternatively, transfer the croque madame on a baking tray and finish to cook them in the oven for 5 minutes.
- in the meantime, in a saute pan with a drizzle of oil, fry the last 4 eggs until cooked to your liking. you can finish the eggs with some butter. I like the egg yolk still runny.
- Serve the croque madame wit the fried eggs over and enjoy immediately.
