Friday, January 23, 2009

Monte Cristos

I've wanted to try a Monte Cristo for YEARS. An old boyfriend ordered them often, but I never tried one. The combination always sounded kinda weird... meat & cheese & French toast, but I was always very curious.

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Aaron McCargo Jr made them on Big Daddy's House recently. And then Bob from Cooking Stuff was talking about a Monte Cristo-like sandwich over on BakeSpace in one of the Dinner Threads.

I decided it was time to take care of my curiosity.

I pretty much used Aaron McCargo Jr's recipe.

I made the sandwiches the same, but I changed up the Cranberry Syrup a little. I didn't want to put cold syrup on my hot sandwiches, so I heated it. I also used whole berry cranberry sauce for a little more texture.

Monte Cristo
4 eggs
1/4 C milk (approx)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
6 slices of bread
6 slices of swiss
sliced ham
sliced turkey
butter

Preheat oven to 350F
Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar and salt.
Assemble sandwiches (make them to your liking - maybe you like more meat or less.. however you like it)

Melt butter in a skillet.

Dip entire assembled sandwich into egg mixture and place dipped sandwich in hot skillet.

Cook sandwiches until golden and flip. When the other side is golden, remove to a cookie sheet and bake in 350F oven until cheese is all melty and sandwich is heated through.

Serve with Maple Cranberry Sauce.

Maple Cranberry Sauce
1 16oz can whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 C maple syrup
salt & pepper to taste

Heat all ingredients in small sauce pan until warmed through.

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Ok.... eggs
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Plus milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, and salt.
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Whisk it up.
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Assemble your sammies

Swiss
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Ham
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Smoked Turkey
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More Swiss
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Heat up the skillet and add butter
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Dip your sandwiches into the egg mixture
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And into the skillet
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Turn when golden
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And into the oven to ensure warm melty goodness!
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Some warm yummy chunky Cranberry Maple Sauce
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It's dinner time!!!!
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So the verdict?

Tawny didn't like it. (I think she did eat the whole thing... or most of it... she tried disassembling it... definitely not a winner in her book)

Jon said, "I could eat it again" Which led to a discussion of....
So if you had to rate The Monte Cristo, which answer is most correct?

Would definitely recommend it to a friend.
Would probably recommend it to a friend.
May or May Not recommend it to a friend.
Would probably not recommend it to a friend.
Would definitely not recommend it to a friend.

He didn't really say which the answer was! But I think he would eat it without complaint if I made them again, but he would not actually 'request' them.

I enjoyed it. I did add Dijon mustard to mine and instead of dipping the sandwich, I added the Cranberry Maple Sauce to the inside. Next time, I'd add the Dijon while assembling.

I think this is something that I'll suddenly have a craving for and will end up making again, but probably not often, due to the lackluster response of my family.

11 comments:

Bob said...

Those look awesome. My girlfriend wasn't crazy about the things I made either, but I loved it.

I remember one job I had where a catering truck came by every morning. They had a sandwich that was a fried egg, sausage, bacon and cheese on french toast. It was unreal, everyone called it the heart attack. :)

What's Cookin Chicago said...

This looks delicious! I love the combo of sweet and savory!

Michele said...

They look great. Really makes me crave french toast!

Donna-FFW said...

I love the combo you chose to make. All the step by step photos I enjoy too.. Bet it was delicious!

Sara said...

These look great - I love monte cristos, but have never tried to make them before!

Meg said...

Looks delicious to me.

Reeni said...

They sure look really good!!

tamilyn said...

I worked (very briefly) at a restaurant and this was one of the top sellers at lunch time. So good, but I don't like to dip mine. Just a personal preference. Good camping too, just pop on the griddle.

Spryte said...

Thanks for all the cool comments! You guys rock!

Carrie said...

I love monte cristos and the resturant that use to have them went out of business, I should try them at home.

Spryte said...

You should!! They're really easy!