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BlueTang
03-16-2010, 00:12
I was finally able to get my website online this evening. Thought I would post this recipe from it.


Cumberland Monte Christo
Description

The Monte Cristo is a variation of the French croque-monsieur. In America it is served a number of ways but the most traditional is dipping the entire sandwich in batter and deep frying. It is then served coated with powdered sugar and usually maple syrup. In northern New York a Monte Christo is usually found as a hearty savory sandwich which is served with Thousand Island dressing. A Monte Cristo can be an easy trail cooking item in your arsenal.



Ingredients

2 Slices of Bread
1 Egg
3 Slices of Black Forest Ham
3 Slices of Turkey
2 Thin slices of Muenster Cheese
Thousand Island Dressing
Olive Oil for frying


Home Preparation

--Put a couple ounces of Thousand Island dressing into a small 2-4 ounce squeeze container
--Put some Olive Oil in a 1-2 ounce squeeze container for frying
--Egg packaging: There are 2 ways. The first is to crack the egg into a small bowl, lightly break the yolk and stir into egg white. Pour into pint sized freezerbag and freeze. The second is to simply put the egg into some kind of padded container. If carrying one egg I usually have room in my pot. For multiple eggs, we use either a Pringles can or Lays "Stax" can. Those are much more packable and protective to the eggs than most other methods.
--Package meat and cheese together
--Package bread

Trail Preparation

--In a container, you need the egg whisked so that you can soak one side of each slice of bread.
--Heat oiled frying pan over medium heat on your stove
--Place one piece of bread egg side down in frying pan. --Add meat and cheese to the top of that,and then place second slice of egg soaked bread egg side up on the meat and cheese.
--Fry until dark brown on each side and the cheese has melted somewhat.
--Serve with Thousand Island dressing as a dipping sauce.

Notes

A Monte Christo can be changed up anyway you like. Don't be afraid to try new ideas, especially new meat and cheese combinations.

Regarding frying, these do come out better when using oil in the pan. If we make these at night, we use a generous portion of Olive oil as it adds calories and fat which will help fuel your body in the evening to stay warm. For backpacking food, Olive Oil is your number one friend and should be a staple in most backpackers food arsenals.

Mountain Wildman
03-16-2010, 00:21
Sounds delicious!!
Bring a little bottle of vanilla extract and you can make french toast as well.

BlueTang
03-16-2010, 09:50
Sounds delicious!!
Bring a little bottle of vanilla extract and you can make french toast as well.

Sure you could do that. Don't forget to leave behind the ham, turkey, cheese and thousand Island dressing! :D

Mountain Wildman
03-16-2010, 10:08
Sure you could do that. Don't forget to leave behind the ham, turkey, cheese and thousand Island dressing! :D

May be good all together, Sweet and Savory.
A friend of mine went to culinary school in Connecticut, She once made these little chocolate cakes that had hot peppers in the recipe, not sure if they were jalapenos or habaneros but it was an interesting flavor.
Very sweet with a kick!!

BlueTang
03-16-2010, 10:13
May be good all together, Sweet and Savory.
A friend of mine went to culinary school in Connecticut, She once made these little chocolate cakes that had hot peppers in the recipe, not sure if they were jalapenos or habaneros but it was an interesting flavor.
Very sweet with a kick!!

For the sweeter ones you would want to do a few things different. Different cheese for sure, dust liberally with powdered sugar, and probably use a plain white bread.

NashvilleBiscuit
03-16-2010, 10:36
This is great. I am going to be camping/climbing this weekend and plan to try it out.

Thanks.

LaurieAnn
03-16-2010, 15:29
Stuffed French toast is kind of fun - if you are going to do something like a Monte but sweet try spreading cream cheese on the inside of the bread and reconstituting some freeze-dried strawberries and placing those on top of the cream cheese. Add the second piece of bread. Then dip the whole thing in the egg mixture and fry.

A few notes for those watching weight and spoilage. The Scrambled Egg Mix (not the whole powdered egg) from Walton Feed works very well for French Toast. Also, if your bread gets a little stale and squished in your pack, it will come back when it is placed in the egg mixture. You can also dry canned flakes of ham with great success.