Monte Cristo Poppers

This was a fun little recipe that the Beautiful Mrs. Tas requested for the Superbowl; I really liked the idea of a play on the Monte Cristo sandwich, so I gave it a try. The execution can be a little tricky, as I found out, but if you're looking for something interesting for a "party food" or appetizer that your guests will enjoy, this is it.

The original idea for this came from a site that Mrs Tas found on Pintrest:

http://www.ohbiteit.com/2013/0...-cristo-poppers.html

I'll say up front that the photos on the original site are a million times better than mine; I was rushed, learning to make this as i was going, working with a new camera and delegating some of the tasks to kids, so this didn't come out nearly as "pretty" as I would have liked. I do hope, however, that our next attempt will produce some more photogenic results.

At its heart, this is really easy to do - here's what you need:



1 can of 8 "grand" or "jumbo" biscuits
8 (or 16, if thin) slices of cooked ham
8 (or 16, if thin) slices of cooked turkey
8 slices of Swiss cheese
8 slices of Cheddar cheese
Powdered Sugar (not pictured)
Raspberry Preserves (not pictured)
Oil for frying (not pictured)

As you will see, we've got all the elements of a Monte Cristo sandwich here; normally, I have a "pet peeve" about using the word "whimsical" in conjunction with food; I believe that term is very much over-used, especially on TV. However, in this case, it is an adjective that rather fits the situation, so I will withdraw my objection.

Let's get started!

First, you need to assemble your "rolls" that you will subsequently cut and then stuff into the biscuit dough. To do this, lay out your ham (please pardon the flash, which made the ham rather pale):



This ham was sliced very thin, so I used 2 slices.

Next, layer on a slice of Swiss cheese:



Then your turkey (in this case, 2 slices):



And finally, your Cheddar cheese (please pardon the slightly-out-of-focus shot):



Next, roll this stack up as tightly as you can:



Right away, I noticed two things:

The first was that the meats were a little slippery against the cheeses, which made the stacks want to slide rather than roll.

The second thing I noticed was that, while the Swiss cheese behaved very well, the Cheddar, stiff as it was, did not roll easily, and would either break along the roll or, more often, try to spring back and unroll the entire thing.

Both of these issues can be managed, but it is important to be aware of them. When we make these again, I will probably use American, Velveeta or some other softer cheese in place of the Cheddar.

In any case, repeat this procedure until you have eight layered rolls:



Now, pop open your biscuits and cut each one into quarters:



Then cut each meat/cheese roll into quarters:



Here comes the tricky part: you need to flatten the biscuit dough into disks that are large enough to encase cut sections of meat and cheese:



And then actually wrap them up in the dough:



This sounds easy, and it should have been easy, but I had a heck of a time with it due to the issues mentioned above (slippery meats and stiff cheeses compromising the rolls). Eventually, I was able to come up with a procedure whereby I set the cut section "vertically" on the flattened disk, then brought up the corners of the dough and sealed up the package:



But with everything working against this goal, it took me nearly 2 dozen tries to get this procedure going smoothly. This is not a complaint about the recipe, but they are things to be aware of so that you can avoid the problems I had.

As I created the poppers, I lined them up on a baking sheet:



Careful observers can see the progression of my learning curve, here!

From this point, the recipe in the link above advises one to deep-fry the poppers and sprinkle them with powdered sugar as they come out of the oil. Due to the fact that I had several other projects going on at the same time, I decided to have one of the kids bake them instead, so as to avoid the potential pyrotechnics that could have been found in a small, cramped full and busy kitchen. Baking them rather than frying them did produce fine and acceptable results, but I believe that deep-frying would have provided a better "Monte Cristo" experience. You can, of course, prepare them as you wish.

I didn't know this until it was too late, but my son baked them at a bit too low a temperature, and the poppers didn't qute bake as nicely as they could have:



This worked, but it could have been better, so if you do bake them, be sure to bake them at the right temperature. There are a few minor blow-outs; but no worries - somehow, cheese blow-outs tend to add to, rather than subtract from, the enjoyment of things like this, as long as they are not too severe.

Due to Mrs. Tas's mild diabetes, we decided not to do the powdered sugar dusting; we did, however, top with low-sugar raspberry preserves, as it is traditional to add a sweet element to a Monte Cristo sandwich. But alas, the "big game" was starting, and everyone was rushing, so attractive application of the preserves went straight out the window:



No worries, they tasted great, with everything you love about a Monte Cristo sandwich. The sweet-salty play was there, as well as some smoky elemtents from the meats, tang from the cheese and fruit accents from the preserves.

The poppers were enjoyed by all and are highly recommended! Next time I make them, I will deep fry them as advised, and will dust at least half the batch with powdered sugar. If a person keeps the above-mentioned potential difficulties in mind and manages them well, this can be a really fun and unique way to wow your guests.

Thanks for looking, and if you try these, please share your experience along with a few photos!

Re. flattening the dough, here's a trick I picked up some time ago from making blue cheese stuffed hamburgers.....it's sure and easy to do. Take the dough (or anything else you want flattened), cut two sections of wax paper, one piece goes underneath, the other on top, press down with your palm and bingo! There it is, a even thickness morsel. Try it once & you will be sold. r in w.

sounds like a good idea, ray ~ i'll give it a a try next time!

Good Living!

OOOOOOOOOOO this sounds good!!!!!!!

Neat idea. I will try this with flare from Itay. Pepperoni provelone ect.
Cajun flare andouille chedder.
Thanks Tas.
Larry