Christmas recipes: How to make a mini Croque Madame
A simple cheese and ham sandwich, drizzled with snowy white béchamel sauce and topped with a fried egg, the yolk still perfectly soft and runny.
This would make an ideal starter for Christmas lunch or a delicious Christmas morning breakfast to keep you going until the main event.
“On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me three French hens…”
Ingredients (serves 4):
For the béchamel sauce
60g plain flour
600ml hot milk
Freshly grated Nutmeg
For the sandwich
12 slices bread
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
400g ham, sliced
400g cheese, grated
50g butter, divided
½ tablespoon rapeseed oil
4 eggs
Method
To make the béchamel sauce
In a small saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat. When just melted, whisk in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, whisking all the time.
Add half of the hot milk, keep whisking until you have a smooth paste with no lumps, now add the remainder of the milk and nutmeg and whisk until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Adding hot milk instead of fridge cold milk stops the béchamel from burning while waiting for the milk to come to temperature. Cover and leave to one side.
To make the sandwiches
Turn on your grill.
Using a pastry cutter, cut each slice of bread into a round, lay them on a baking tray and toast on both sides until light golden brown.
Spread each toasted slice with a thin layer of mustard.
Divide the sliced ham between 8 of the toasts and top the ham with 3/4 of the grated cheese.
Put one ham and cheese loaded toast on top of another then flip the plain toast on top, mustard side down. Do this three more times for the other sandwiches.
Melt 30g butter in a large frying pan and cook the sandwiches on both sides until the bread is golden brown and crispy and the cheese is melting, about 2 minutes per side.
Return the sandwiches to the baking tin, pour a good amount of béchamel over the top of each and top off with the remaining cheese. Put under the grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling, about 2-3 minutes.
Melt the remaining butter in the same pan, add a little rapeseed oil and fry the eggs, sunny side up, for about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the fried eggs to a plate and cut each into a perfect round. Top the sandwiches with the fried eggs and season with plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.
Find more of Beverley's recipes here. Follow her on Instagram @thelittlechelseakitchen for more inspiration.
