Monte Cristo Skillet – and Your Cast Iron Memories
This delicious recipe is at the bottom of the post. Hope you get to try it soon!
Be sure and share your special Cast Iron memories in the comments below!
(more details at bottom of post)
Today I’m thrilled to bring you a guest post from the good folks at Martha White, along with a fun announcement! The National Cornbread Festival is coming up! The cornbread festival is held each year in the neat little town of South Pittsburg, Tennessee, and this year Martha White has asked me to be a judge. So I get to participate in the festival AND taste all of the yummy entries, to boot! The festival is a weekend long family event with all sorts of fun activities taking place, including tours of the Lodge Cast Iron Factory. Click the Cornbread Festival logo at the bottom of this post to visit the official homepage and learn more.
I’m really looking forward to meeting more of the Southern Plate Family! We have a page over on Facebook where folks can RSVP that they are coming so if you plan on coming out for the fun this year so click here to head on over there and let me know so I can look forward to seeing your face and keep you posted on times and location of the Southern Plate Family meet and greet.
I’m also hoping some of you will enter the competition. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a member of the Southern Plate family won it? I happen to know that y’all are a group of extremely talented cooks – who cook for the love of family and friends – and I can’t imagine a dish tasting better than one made by one of you. For the official rules of the competition, click here. To go ahead and enter, click here.
This Monte Cristo Skillet was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2006 National Cornbread Festival. It caught my eye because I recently had my very first Monte Cristo Sandwich and absolutely loved it. Southern Living sent me to Charleston to do some presentations for the Taste of Charleston Festival. Have you ever been to Charleston? Oh my goodness gracious, is that a beautiful town! With every sight and sound I became more determined to bring my family back there someday so I could experience it with them (It is hard to enjoy a trip without the folks you want to share it with beside you).
As I’ve started traveling from time to time I’ve taken a queue from my adventurous counterparts at SL and started making it a point to try something new in each place if possible. In Charleston, I had my first Monte Cristo Sandwich and it was right up my alley. I ate it in the cafe of a beautiful hotel right downtown. The flavors were a unique combination for me: Ham, cheese, battered and toasted bread drizzled with a sweet fruit preserves and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. It was part lunch, part breakfast, part sandwich, part dessert, and all the way good!
So when Martha White offered to guest post I got to nosing around for what recipe I thought would appeal the most to everyone and as soon as this skillet came before my eyes, my heart just settled on it.
This recipe is quick to throw together and feeds six people. I like strawberry preserves with mine but feel free to use whichever you like best. I also omit the turkey and use additional ham in it’s place. Lunchmeat ham works just fine!
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:362]
Love Your Cast Iron?
Be sure and pick up this month’s special Cast Iron issue of Taste Of The South. It is filled to the BRIM with delicious recipes for your cast iron skillet, gorgeous food photography,
and those sweet people even put my name on the cover!
I don’t know who is more tickled, me or my mother!
Isn’t it funny how even the tiniest iron skillet can hold soooo many memories. When I was first married, was looking forward to getting my newly acquired iron skillets seasoned to perfection. My sister put one of them in the dishwasher ! I almost cried, but scrubbed off the rust and taught her how to season it ! Still have it ! When my kids were quite young, we had an ice storm and no power for three days. We had a huge fireplace to keep us warm and cook in. I put a beef roast in my iron skillet, covered with foil and cooked it in the fireplace. That was uncoubtedly the best roast I’ve ever had ! Cornbread and pineapple upside down cake MUST be cooked in an iron skillet. I probably have one of just about every size ! Happy memories everybody !
my grandmama pitts (who was from alabama) always made pineapple upside down cake in the iron skillet! now i do the same! it’s the best way!
Hey Christy, not sure what is wrong, but when I click the Cornbread Festival link, I go to the site for the Chai Tea. hmmm….
I have over 200 pieces of cast iron cookware and my favorite it is the cake molds. I remember making the cakes for Easter and Christmas with my mom.
Ok, I’m hanging my head in shame (and regret) right now. I have a couple of cast iron skillets that I tried using years ago. I never got the hang of how to take care of them and (please don’t shoot me) I finally put them away thinking they were just too much trouble. I have wanted to pull them out and use them over the years but they really kind of intimidate me.
Christy, I would love it if you would post a tutorial on how to care for these wonderful tools. If you do that, I promise to try again.
I have a few cast iron pans that were my grandfathers’. I remember he would cook liver and onions in the cast iron and pancakes on the griddle on the side. He thought by cooking pancakes too you would more than likely eat the liver and onions.
BTW Monte Cristo is one of my favorite sandwiches. I remember eating it at the mall in Joplin, MO, can’t think of the restaurant but they always gave you a side of honey to dip it in. YUM!!!
South Pittsburg is in Tennessee