because of all the Sand-wichs there...at Disneyland...and it's yummy.

Yes, I am aware that the Monte Cristo sandwich was not eaten within the pages of this book. The savory predecessor to the sweet Monte Cristo, the Croque Monsieur wasn't noted on a menu until the early 1900's. When I was trying to come up with books to include in the blog, my beautiful bride asked me what my favorite book was. Aside from A Christmas Carol, which will be the subject of a later post, The Count of Monte Cristo is my almost tied for favorite book. I read it when I was in the 8th grade (probably a condensed version at 600 pages. Only recently when I read it again did I realize that its really closer to 1400 depending upon the translation). I was taken with the idea of revenge upon those who destroyed Edmond Dantes prospects as well as his good fortunes upon escaping the Island prison, Chateau d'If. I felt the tragedy of Dantes' situation but it always stuck with me that many innocent lives were swept up in the devastation of Edmond's revenge and the impression I got from the ending was that his revenge was still not fully satisfying. 

The Monte Cristo sandwich was a no brainer. I have always wanted to try one and when you say the name of the book you can't help but think about it. Apparently Disneyland has a legendary one and i found a multitude of Pinterest pins entitled "copycat Disneyland Monte Cristo sandwich." If you have never had one, the best way I can describe it is that is like a pancake-french-toast-ham-and-cheese sandwich. It can be deep fried or pan fried. and the batter in the recipe I used made a terrific pancake once the sandwiches were all made. So make up a couple of sandwiches and settle down for a good long read, you will be there a while...

So, without further ado... I give you...

Copycat Disneyland Monte Cristo Sandwiches

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 4 mins

Total time: 9 mins

Author: Karlynn Johnston aka The Kitchen Magpie

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Sweet Batter Ingredients:
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup of milk
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Sandwich Ingredients:
• 8 slices Swiss cheese
• 8 slices Turkey
• 8 slices Ham
• 8 slices Texas Style White Bread or any square formed white bread
• Vegetable Oil - an inch deep in a large skillet
• Powdered Sugar
• Raspberry jam for dipping

Instructions

1. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and egg thoroughly.
3. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and combine until there are no lumps. The batter should be fairly runny, yet still thick enough to stick to the sandwich.If needed, add a teensy bit more milk.
4. Make the sandwiches by layering a slice of swiss cheese, then the 4 meat slices, then swiss cheese, top with the remaining slice of bread. Putting cheese on either side of the meat ensures a beautiful melty goodness when you are done!
5. Leave the sandwiches whole for frying, as you lose the cheesy goodness inside otherwise. Only slice them after they are cooked up!
6. Place a toothpick on each corner of the sandwich.
7. Dip the whole sandwich in the batter, covering the surface completely and fry in 340 degrees F oil until golden. The Texas toast will take longer to heat up the inside, thus the lower frying temperature. If you are using normal bread, you can go up to around 360 degrees F for frying.
8. Remove and drain on paper towels.
9. Remove the toothpicks and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
10. If you want the real Disney deal, dip your sandwich in raspberry jam!

P.S. I didn't deep fry mine so I only coated the top and bottoms of the sandwiches with the batter. I also cooked the remaining batter as a pancake. It was such an awesome pancake that I may just use this batter as a pancake recipe from now on.