Croque Madame Muffins

Makes 6

Preparation time: 20 mins

Baking time: 15 - 20 mins

6 large slices of white bread, no crusts

3 tbsp butter, melted

75g ham cut into cubes or thin strips

6 small eggs

For the Mornay sauce:

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp plain flour

200ml milk, lukewarm

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

30g Gruyere or mature Comte cheese, grated

Salt & pepper

1. Make the sauce: melt the butter in a pan ver a medium heat. Add the flour and beat hard until you have a smooth paste. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 2 mins, then gradually add the milk, whisking constantly.

2. Place the pan back over a medium heat, add the mustard and nutmeg and simmer gently for 10mins, whisking ferquently to stop the sauce burning on the bottom of the pan. Once the sauce thickens to the consistency of a thick tomato sauce, take off the heat. Add the cheese (keep a little for the garnish) and taste for seasoning. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more milk. If too lumpy, pass it through a sieve.

3. Preaheat the oven to 180C. flatten the slices of bread with a rolling pin, then brush each slice on both sides with the melted butter. Line a 6 hole muffin tin with the slices of bread, pressing them in with the bootom of a small glass.

4. Divide the ham between the muffins followed by the eggs (if the eggs seem too big, pour a little of the white away before using). Put 2 tbsp of the cheese sauce on top of each egg, then sprinkle with a little cheese and pepper. Bake for 15-20 mins, depending on how runny you like your eggs. Serve immediately.

(Rachel Khoo - The Little Paris Kitchen)

Sole with lemon and brown butter sauce

Less than 30 mins preparation time
10 to 30 mins cooking time
Serves 2

2 fillets of lemon sole (about 150g/5oz each), skin removed
3 tbsp plain flour
½ tsp salt
2 pinches freshly ground black pepper
1½ tbsp sunflower oil
45g/1½oz butter, cut into cubes
½ lemon, juice only
1 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
1 tbsp small capers (optional)

1.Check the fish for small bones and use tweezers to pull out any that you find.

2.Mix the flour with the salt and pepper and spread out over a large plate. Pat the fish fillets in the flour so they are evenly coated, and shake off any excess.

3.Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. When the oil is smoking hot, place the fish fillets in the pan and lower the heat to medium. Cook for 1-2 minutes on one side until golden-brown, then turn the fillets over and cook for a further 1-2 minutes until the second side is golden-brown. (Flatfish fillets need only 1-2 minutes cooking on each side. If you’re cooking thicker slices or fillets from a fish like trout (2-3cm/1in thick), then 3-4 minutes on each side should be fine.)

4.When cooked remove the fish from the pan and wrap the fish in aluminium foil to keep warm.

5.Wipe the pan with paper towels and return to a medium heat. Add the cubes of butter and heat until they melt and become light brown, then turn off the heat and add the lemon juice (stand back a little as it will splutter).

6.Add the parsley and capers (if using), and swirl the contents of the pan around. Return the fish to the pan, spoon over the juices and serve immediately.

Rachel Khoo - Little Paris Kitchen BBC TV - April 2012