Name: Croque Madame
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 sanduíches

Croque Madame

In the 4th episode of Masterchef Brazil, the competitors had to prepare in the final test a classic french recipe: Croque Monsieur, but this time we made the version Croque Madame. The fried egg added to the top of the sandwich reminds the hat used by the ladies.

Ingredients

8 slices of white bread
10.5oz (300gr) of Cheese (shredded or sliced)
8 slices of ham
2 tablespoon of Yellow/Dijon mustard
4 eggs
Sauce Béchamel
2 cups of milk
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
A pinch of salt, white or black pepper and ground nutmeg

Steps

Step 1
Start making the sauce.In a pan, melt the butter on low heat.
Step 2
Add the all-purpose flour, combine with the butter and stir for about 2 minutes with a bambu spoon or a fouet.
Step 3
Add the milk in portions. Add a little bit of the milk, stir well, add more milk (about half of the remaining portion).
Step 4
Season with salt, white or black pepper, and ground nutmeg stir well, and add the remaining milk.
Step 5
Keep mixing (on low heat) for about 5 minutes until you get a soft and creamy sauce.
Step 6
When done, let's assemble the sandwich.
Step 7
Assemble the Croque Monsieur in the following order: spread mustard in the bread slice, spread the bechamel sauce, cheese, ham and another bread slice with mustard and bechamel sauce.
Step 8
Place the sandwiches in a backing pan/sheet, add more bechamel sauce on top of each sandwich and sprinkle some shredded cheese on top of them (or sliced cheese).
Step 9
Back them on a pre-heated oven to 392ºF (200º C) for about 15-20 minutes to melt and grill the cheese and toast the bread.
Step 10
While the sandwiches are toasting. Fry the eggs.
Step 11
Place the fried egg on top of the sandwich and plate with a fresh salad and sauce.