CROQUE MADAME

    The sourdough bread of this tall ham and cheese sandwich, made complicated because it's French, is two-sided: the jalapeño cheddar side, and the plain side. But this is homemade. In a 12-inch frying pan on medium heat I melted a good amount of butter sprinkled with nutmeg and soaked in the bread, turning them over when slightly browned. Shut stove and remove from heat. Meanwhile, set your toaster oven to broil and prep the cured ham by lathering it with olive oil and fresh-cracked black pepper, then folding over once sealing in the rub. Set aside. Harvest the soaked plain-sided bread from the pan, plate it, then add overlapping thick layers of pepper jack cheese and muenster - and stick it in the toaster to melt (roughly four minutes). The jalapeño side will be the spreader of the essential dijon mustard flavor to the whole sandwich, so dollop on a spoonful to it beautifully, while waiting for its other half. Time to cook the egg. Pretty simple and here's my technique to achieve a perfect molten yolk, firm around the contours but the center is emulsified: cover the pan with a clear-glass lid (perhaps from your stock pot) and swirl the oil around cooking the whites evenly, leaving the yolk red for the steam to cook it desirably (on medium-high heat, total time for this style should be under three minutes, making sure the oil is very hot before placing the egg). Now assemble the Croque, melted cheese-side up smothering the ham on the bottom - and crown the Madame with your perfect oeuf frit (fried egg). The height of this sandwich is pretty big; I had purposely sliced the bread thick and "pastramid" the ham to match the fondue viscosity of the muenster jack. More fresh-cracked pepper and olive oil blot as final touch, and you're good to go. Eating might be a challenge so prepare yourself a steak knife and hold down the sandwich with your other hand. A vinegary malt coleslaw would be a great pair for offsetting flavor profiles that overcomes the mouthful of béchamel ham on toasted country bread that's butter-rich and slightly spicy from peppercorns. The salad will spike your food to wonders because the oeuf frit was marquee to it all.             

"Be realistic, demand the impossible." - Joseph Remnant 

(French photographer and social justice activist)

(Bread, by M. Toku)