Croque Madame

Originated in France as a fast-food snack, and served in caf�s and bistros, croque Monsieur is the hot ham and cheese grilled sandwich we all love. 

A croque monsieur topped with a fried or poached egg, is a croque madame, or in parts of Normandy, a croque-�-cheval.
I love this sandwich with french pressed coffee for brunch, and I also love it with a glass of wine for dinner. That�s particularly why I love this sandwich, because it can go either way: breakfast or dinner.

Ingredients (serves 4):

8 slices of white bread
4 tsp of Dijon mustard
� pound smoked ham, thinly sliced
� cup shredded cheese (Gruy�re)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups milk
Dash of salt and pepper
4 large eggs

The sauce:
In a saucepan, melt 3 tbsp of butter, add 3 tbsp of flour and whisk continuously for abt 3 mn. Add the milk, whisking constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer 5 mn, whisking periodically, until thickened. Remove from heat and add � cup of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and stir until the cheese is melted and combined.

The sandwiches:
For each sandwich, apply about a teaspoon of mustard on one side of the bread. Pile the ham on top of the mustard. On the other piece of bread, spoon about 1 to 2 tbsp of bechamel-cheese sauce and spread it evenly. Add about 1 tbsp of shredded cheese on top of the sauce and close the sandwich. Repeat for each of the sandwiches.

Preheat the broiler.

In a non stick griddle pan, grill the sandwiches on both sides until golden.
Remove the sandwiches to a baking dish. Spoon about ? cup of the sauce on each of the sandwiches. Place the dish under the broiler for approximately 2 minutes, or until the sauce is browned.

Now fry 4 eggs until the whites are cooked and the egg is just sunny side up perfection. On each sandwich, place one egg and serve immediately.



Ingr�dients (4 personnes):

8 tranches de pain de mie
4 c�s de moutarde de Dijon
4 tranches de jambon
150 g de Gruy�re
40 g de beurre
40 g de farine
45 cl de lait
sel et poivre
4 �ufs

La sauce:
Dans une casserole, faites fondre le beurre, ajoutez la farine et fouettez environ 3 mn. Versez le lait, petit � petit, tout en fouettant. Portez � �bullition, puis r�duisez le feu et laissez la sauce s'�paissir tout en continuant de fouetter. Hors feu, ajoutez 100 g de gruy�re et m�langez jusqu'� ce qu'elle fond. Assaisonnez de sel et de poivre.

Les sandwiches:
Sur un pain de mie, �talez une c�c de moutarde. D�posez une tranche de jambon dessus. Sur l'autre pain �talez 1 � 2 c�s de sauce puis saupoudrez 1 c�s de gruy�re dessus. Fermez le sandwich et r�p�tez avec les autres pain.

Pr�chauffez le grill four.

Dans une po�le, faites griller les sandwiches des 2 c�t�s. Transf�rez les dans un plat allant au four. �talez sur le dessus des sandwiches 2 c�s de sauce. Placez les sous le grill 2 mn.

Faites cuire 4 oeufs au plat dans une po�le. Sortez les croque du four et d�posez-y l'oeuf au plat dessus.