Monte Cristo Sandwiches

I met my friend Brooke at Cheddar's today for lunch and seriously eyed the Monte Cristo Sandwich. I decided on something else.. but I thought about that sandwich the rest of the day! If you've never had one, you really should give it a try. The combination of sweet and salty seems odd but it just all melts together so well. They're very rich but VERY tasty. Tonight, I was trying to decide what to cook for dinner and I realized that I had the ingredients to make Monte Cristo Sandwiches at home.. Come to Mama!

There are a ton of Monte Cristo recipes and techniques online but I chose to make them with a "french toast" method to avoid two things: #1 dragging out the deep fryer and #2 uncooked egg in the middle layer of bread. They went together easily and were cooked perfectly.

6 slices bread

6 thin slices of ham

6 thin slices of turkey

2 slices American cheese (I use the kind from the deli instead of Kraft singles)

2 slices Swiss cheese

2 T butter

2 eggs

1/4 c milk (eyeball it like you would for french toast)

powdered sugar (for dusting)

warm raspberry jam (for dipping)

Whisk the eggs with the milk in a shallow dish and set aside. Lay out your meats and cheeses on a cutting board to bring them up to room temp (that way they'll heat up well on the sandwich). I made 4 piles (3 slices ham topped with American cheese ((twice)) and 3 slices turkey topped with Swiss cheese ((twice)) does that make sense?) Heat a large skillet or griddle to medium and butter well. Dip the 6 slices of bread in the egg mixture on both sides and let the excess drip off. (If your griddle isn't large enough you'll have to make one sandwich at a time so don't dip until you're ready to cook). Cook the bread slices a couple of minutes on one side and flip. Once you flip all six slices, place the piles of meat and cheese on four of the slices. Cook a minute or two to make sure the egg is cooked through. Then assemble the sandwich with one layer ham and American, one layer turkey and Swiss and a final piece of french toast on the top! Press down slightly, cut into fourths, sprinkle with powdered sugar and DEVOUR. I like to warm up the raspberry jam a little to make it dippable. Makes two sandwiches. Enjoy!

Brett enjoyed his Monte Cristo too!