Croque Madame & Mademoiselle

At the heart of it, a croque monsieur and croque madame is a ham and cheese sandwich. One with an egg, the other without. The croque madame isn't that much different than an eggs benedict... but it is. The simple change in ingredients make a world of difference. With the butter, 2 slices of regular bread, cheese, ham, and an egg, the points value of a regular can be 15- 18 pp for a sandwich. Add the sauce and you're looking at 20pt.

So, I decided to see if I can tweak it and make a lighter, smaller version of the Croque Madame. Have it with a good soup or salad for lunch or dinner. Have it with some yogurt and fruit for a brunch. The egg and cheese is pretty rich, even with the lightened version, so you'd want to pair it with something that is light with a bit of acid to balance it out. 

The Mademoiselle (10 pps)

Ingredients: 

1 egg

1 thick slice bread, cut in half (I used a 12-grain bread)

1.5 oz ham, sliced

1 tbsp light butter (I used Land-o-Lakes w/ canola oil)

2 oz of reduced-fat swiss, cheddar, and/or Jack cheese, grated

1 tsp spicy brown mustard

(If you're making 2 servings, double the ingredients and make 1 large sandwich, then cut in half before topping each half with the egg. It actually turns out better when you make this for 2. The crust on the bread slice helps keep its integrity.)

Process:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
• Spread a thin layer of butter on the pieces of bread, then lay them butter side up on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place in oven to toast for 3 minutes (until butter is melted and the other side is golden brown). 
• Take the bread out of the oven and turn over, so butter side is now down. 
• Top both slices of the bread with 2/3 oz of the shredded cheese. Add the slices of ham to one slice of bread.
• Return to oven for 4 minutes - until the cheese is melty and bubbly. 
• While the bread is browning and the cheese melting, over medium heat, prepare a sunny-side up egg, leaving it slightly undercooked (even for a sunny side up egg). Set egg in pan aside. 

• Take sandwiches out. Drizzle the mustard over the ham. Place the other slice of toasted bread on top of the ham, cheese side down.

•  Now, top this with the egg by gently sliding it onto the toast. Top the egg with remaining cheese and return to the oven for 1 - 2 minutes to cook the egg a little more (longer will solidify the yolk to your desired consistency) and to melt the cheese. 

Egg topping, a little more "done" here than I normally like it.  

The red is Chalula hot sauce.

Gooey egg-topped yum.

Variants and options
(Optional, but will add points) Before you add the ham and cheese, spread on the toasted bread a light mayonaise, bechamel, or garlic aioli. 

Use chicken or turkey instead of ham

Instead of using the oven, pan grill the sandwich to get a really crispy crust. You may end up using a little more butter or oil and thus have something a bit higher in point value. 

California Style: in addition to the ham, add thinly sliced tomatoes and avocado

Mexican Style: After bringing it out of the oven the final time, top with salsa. Use pepper jack cheese.