CROQUE MADAME
Rich bechamel and savory cheese melted into fresh toasted sourdough. Mouth watering yet? Crown it with an egg for a grilled cheese fit for a queen!
Ingredients + Preparation
- Nice bread: Sourdough is ideal (Four pieces, sliced)
- Ham (100g, shaved)
- Melting cheese: Gruyere is ideal if you can find it (Eight slices)
- Egg (Two)
- Bechamel (See recipe, two cups - halve the sauce recipe if only preparing bechamel for this sandwich)
Instructions
1. Butter one side of each piece of bread.
2. Place 2-3 pieces of ham on one side of the sandwich, adding a half the amount of prepared béchamel and cheese.
3. Put the sides of the sandwich together with buttered sides facing out.
4. On medium heat, cook on one side for 5 minutes, until bread has goldened. Flip and repeat until both sides are toasted. Move the sandwich around the pan every minute or so and check to make sure it's not burning or cooking unevenly.
5. Remove the sandwiches from heat and place on baking tray. Coat tops with béchamel then cheese. Cook in oven on broil / 275 C.
6. Fry the eggs sunny side up in the pan on medium heat for 5 minutes, until the white has cooked and the yolk begins to firm up.
7. Remove sandwiches from oven and top with egg. Serve immediately.
Sens Sips
Chardonnay
Marlborough, New Zealand
California, USA
Find a quality, oaked Chardonnay and you can't go wrong. The buterreiness will match perfectly with the cheese and the citrus will cut through the richness of the Bechamel.
Sens Toolkit
Mama's Wisdom
This is very high in saturated (bad) fat, so make this sandwich only occasionally. Serve with high fiber veggies, a salad or sliced fruit to help aid the digestion process. Try to find a good quality bread with plenty of grains if you don't use sourdough.
Mama Wulf
Marta De Wulf is a dietitian with over 25 years experience helping people explore and appreciate the link between food and personal wellbeing.
