Since I mentioned rich, fatty, food earlier today in the form of the Hardee’s 920-calorie burrito I thought I’d mention one of my favorite high fat treats in meal form, my Monte Cristo Sandwich. 

First, let me say, I’m not that great a cook. I’m mostly an ‘accidental chef’. Some of my creations flop and others work. This one works, most of the time anyway

Let’s start with the ingredients…

- Large sized sliced white bread. I’m mainly looking for something that’s larger than the average commercial loaf and somewhat thicker. Usually either the Kroger or Publix grocery stores in-store bakeries have something that will work although real bakery bread is preferable.

- Boar’s Head Honey Maple Ham. Their turkey will work too but I usually go with the ham. 

- Boar’s Head Baby Swiss

- All Purpose Flour, about a cup to a cup and a half

- pinch of salt

- pinch of baking powder

- 1 cup of whole milk for batter, a small amount more for jelly sauce

- Spreadable Butter

- Cooking oil or spray

- 2 eggs

- Powdered Sugar, maybe about 1/2 cup

- Currant Jelly, preferably a premium brand

First, I prepare the batter by mixing and sifting the flour, salt, and baking powder and then mixing the milk and eggs thoroughly. Next, I mix the dry and wet ingredients to form my batter.

Now I’m ready to assemble the sandwiches. I remove the crusts from the bread and place a layer of ham (or turkey), then the cheese, and then another slice of ham on the bread. Next, I lightly butter the outside of the sandwich and then pinch down the edges to seal up the sandwich.

At this point, the sandwich is dipped in the batter, insuring that it is covered well, and then placed on a medium-hot oiled griddle and cooked until golden brown, flipping with a spatula occasionally of course. When it is cooked, remove it and sprinkle it with powdered sugar, then cut in half and serve with currant jelly sauce. The currant jelly sauce is the jelly plus a little whole milk blended together until smooth.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Let me know if you try it yourself and feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

Food
Monte Cristo, Recipe, Sandwich