Monte Cristo Skillet
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With all the goodness of a classic Monte Cristo sandwich, enjoy this easy Monte Cristo Skillet recipe to make Monte Cristo flavors easy and accessible for the whole family!
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.
What You’ll Need to Make the Monte Cristo Skillet:
- Martha White Cotton Country Cornbread Mix
- cooking spray
- chopped cooked turkey
- chopped cooked ham
- shredded Swiss cheese
- eggs
- milk
- mayonnaise
- honey mustard
- salt
- pepper
- currant jelly
- powdered sugar
How to Make a Monte Cristo Skillet:
Prepare the cornbread batter according to the instructions on the package.
Bake cornbread mix in a 10 1/2 inch cast-iron skillet.
The cornbread will be thin and should look like this when baked.
Remove the cornbread from the skillet, and cut it into cubes when cooled. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels and spray the skillet generously with non-stick cooking spray.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the cornbread cubes in the bottom of the cast iron pan.
Top the cornbread cubes with the turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese.
In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon mustard, salt and pepper until well blended.
Pour evenly over ingredients in skillet. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set and lightly browned.
Melt the currant jelly by warming it slightly in the microwave. Add one tablespoon of the honey mustard and whisk until blended.
Remove the Monte Cristo Skillet from the oven.
Cut it into wedges…
…sprinkle with powdered sugar…
…and serve with the currant jelly/honey mustard mixture! ENJOY this delicious cast-iron-skillet recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 6 oz. package Martha White® Cotton CountryTM Cornbread Mix
- Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
- 1-1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey
- 1/2 cup chopped cooked ham
- 1-1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons honey mustard divided
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup Smucker's® Currant Jelly
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- PREPARE cornbread mix according to package directions, except bake in a 10 1/2-inch cast iron skillet (cornbread will be thin). Remove cornbread from skillet; cool and cut into cubes. Wipe out skillet with paper towels; spray generously with no-stick cooking spray.
- HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cornbread cubes in skillet. Top with turkey, ham and cheese. In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon mustard, salt and pepper until well blended. Pour evenly over ingredients in skillet. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set and lightly browned.
- MELT currant jelly by warming slightly. Add 1 tablespoon honey mustard; whisk to blend.
- REMOVE skillet from oven. Cut in wedges, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with currant jelly and mustard sauce.
I’m gonna have to make this for my husband. I was showing this recipe to him and he said it sounded like the sandwiches we had at Pattis Restaurant in Grand Rivers, KY. That’s been about 15 years ago! I was surprised that he remembered it.
My grandma got married in 1905. They had little but she had her cast iron. She was 80 when I was born. I remmeber standing by the wood cook stove in her kitchen and watching her stoke the fire to make corn bread in her iron skillet. Mom always made our thanksgiving dressing in a monster size iron skillet. We never had cake pans – we used different size skillets to make beautiful layers. When I touch grandama’s or mom’s pieces they are with me. When I was a new bride we went to visit a preacher living in the mountains. His wife had a massive collection of iron skillets hanging in her kitchen. They had six grown boys and countless grandchildren. She cooked every meal in her skillets. Just cooked our families meal tonight in a new lodge skillet. Why would anyone choose another cookware? My son’s and grandchildren will enjoy these pieces – no doubt.
I love reading these posts! Cast iron and Revere ware..I don’t think anything can kill them. I think I’ve done everything to those pans learning to cook and they still work!
I really should have a cast iron skillet! Someday I will… 🙂
I love seeing these postings about cast iron!. I have a cast iron skillet that’s well over a hundred years old, and three others that are at least 60 years old. My mother gave me the first one and when she died, I inherited the others. To me they are precious beyond any monetary value. I just used two of them yesterday, a great pot roast with fantastic gravy…. and an upside down cake… But nothing fries potatoes like cast iron….. and on and on. I have so many beautiful, shiny pots and pans that just take up space…. I always use my heavy old antiques…. A few years ago, for Christmas my daughter bought me a cast iron dutch oven…. it sits permanently on my stove top. I use it so often…. and by the way, I store my iron skillets in my oven. I even leave them in when I’m baking if I don’t need the shelf space. Once they’ve been well seasoned, they never need soap… just use a soft brush and hot water and they are once again ready to use. Can’t beat the good old things……..
BTW…. I’m also a southern girl… my entire family was born and raised in east Tennessee. So, obviously pinto beans, fried chicken….. and all those delicious foods that we never forget, were part of my upbringing and even today, a big part of our cooking.
I have the iron skillet that belonged to my great Grandmother, my Grandmother, my Mother and now me. My Mother used it until I was almost grown. It was the only thing my Mother had of her Mother’s. She passed away when my Momma was 5. It was so well used it had become thin and then the handle broke off. My Father took it…had the handle reattached and then painted it….black on outside and white on the inside to look like it did when it was new. He made a special holder for it and it’s hanging on my kitchen wall with a recipe for the chocolate pie filling that my Mother always made in it. It is a precious family treasure that will be passed on to my daughter!
I forgot to add….my daughter will be passing it on to her daughter who is 14, when she sets up her house!
Thanks for this! I LOVE monte cristos!!! This post makes me think of my grammy. She is still around, and used to make me strawberry- rhubarb cobbler in her old cast iron skillet. YUM!!! She doesn’t bake anymore (she’s almost 90), but I think of that cobbler from her cast iron skillet often. I don’t feel I can make it as good as she did. Thanks for the memories 🙂