Roger's View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo!
Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
Sandwiches – by definition — are usually easy things to build and this is by no means an exception. The video made on PTCH …the latest and greatest video site… was easy to make and I think you will get the idea!
I would like to thank the Nautical Bean in San Luis Obispo for sharing me this fun way to prepare a very traditional sandwich. So much more than just Lox and bagels. Enjoy!
I grew up loving the Monte Cristo served at Disneyland and although memory can fool you, I just don’t think they make it the way I remember over 40 years ago. So I decided to try to recreate this fabulous meal for myself.
Although the Monte Cristo is distinctively American it has some rather popular European roots. Some version or another is prepared fondly in nearly every country. In France , it started off as the “Croque-monsieur” which means something like Crunch-mister… let me know if you figure that out?
It is a fun little meal that really doesn’t take all that time and energy to make… but makes everyone happy!
I was at the market the other day and the young man checking out my cart remarked that seeing the briquets that I was ready for a summer barbecue. I said that I was going to make Pastrami by smoking an already prepared but not cooked corned beef. This subtle difference between what is corned beef and what is Pastrami always seems to surprise people. Before I left I answered a variety of questions… what makes the meat red even after cooking ( sodium nitrate), how do you know it is done, what type of wood to use and what kind of smoker is best. I was there for quite a while.
Maybe next time I will just say… “Yeah, I am going to barbecue” and leave it at that.
A while back I wrote about the various methods of tenderizing meat… one of which was to ‘Mechanically” tenderize as pictured above turning Bison steaks into ‘Schnitzel!” (I start off with the larger spikes and end with the flat side to return the meat to a smoother texture)… I wrote:
“Mechanical Tenderizing:
As the name implies, Mechanical tenderizing is simply beating a piece of meat with one of many of the tools designed for this task. Usually, the hammer-like tool will be surrounded with a variety of spikes with the largest for the toughest cuts. Also available are needle like tools that help to increase the depth that the chemical tenderizers and marinade can reach.”
Personally, I think many game meats lend themselves to this method best… as other techniques tend to turn game into mush.
I did brush the Bison with Worcester Sauce and placed into the fridge overnight allowing the flavor to infuse. The next day I added a bit of mustard to my egg mixture and a little salt, pepper and garlic powder to the bread crumbs before frying the Bison… as you can see above it turned out wonderfully tender and flavorful!