Hibernating with Matcha Monte Cristo

I feel that I have been in hibernation way too long this year.  Winter seems to be staying around for awhile longer, so that means that comfort food is on the menu a little longer.

If you follow our blog, Crazy posted a couple weeks ago that one of the hottest new food trends is matcha green tea powder.  "Matcha is a green tea that uses the entire leaf and grinds it into a fine powder that you mix with water instead of just steeping in water. Matcha may contain up to 10-15 more times the nutrients and 100 times more antioxidants than traditional green and other teas.

Matcha is full of EGCG, a compound that helps keep your cells happy and healthy and may possibly increase your metabolism. It also contains L-theanine, an amino acid that may help improve cognition, mood and balance stress (hello, who wouldn't benefit from this!)." 

 

So matcha sounds like a good thing that we should be adding into our diets, right?  The only problem I had was the taste of it.  As Anne posted it is earthy but she likes it.  Earthy is the nicest and most pleasant way to describe it when drinking it in tea form.  Anne told us we should be drinking it, so dang it, we should be drinking it! So how was I supposed to be adding this to my diet when I couldn't even drink it?  When I don't like a food or drink I usually take it under my wing and try to convince my taste buds to like it.  Like sometimes obsessively.  I will tell you that it took me trying hot tea every 3 months for 5 years for me to start liking it and drinking it in the mornings.  I knew it was good for me so I just had to convince my body that it was delicious as well.  I also had that problem with coffee, but for that it took my body 32 years to accept that it wasn't "that bad", and I feel like that's because there was chocolate, marshmallow creme, and bailey's in it!

 

So ever since crazy's post on matcha I had decided to take the little canister under my wing and try to get it to fly.  Try to find the perfect fit for such a perfect food.  Lucky for you, you don't even have to drink it, you can just eat it.  I found that if you bake with matcha or add the right ingredients, and you still get the health benefits, with a more pleasant taste.  I always tell people that Crazy tells you what you are supposed to be eating/ drinking/ doing to live a healthier life, and I am here to show you how to use those ingredients so that you enjoy living, eating and drinking yourself to that healthier life.  All health food can be very tasty, sometimes it just takes a little extra time to figure out the best place for it. 

 

So I hope that I have convinced you to at least try matcha, if not in this recipe, than you can try Crazy's matcha green tea recipe.  And if you need a little more pushing matcha has a very green hue that comes out when mixed so think of it as Mother Nature's gift to you to come out of winter hibernation and start thinking of spring.   

 

 This is my kind of comfort food!  The Matcha Monte Cristo has fresh apples and arugula covered with thinly sliced ham and turkey, and smoothered in Muenster and Swiss cheese.  This sandwich is great for lunch or dinner and gauranteed to keep your belly warm and full. 

 

That's not a lot of ingredients, right?

So first let's make the french toast mixture.  Just crack your eggs in a medium bowl, add the milk (I used almond milk because that's what I had, but use whatever milk you want), matcha green tea powder, and a little vanilla extract and whisk it real good.  Set aside.

So let's start assembly of the sandwiches.  Start with laying out your pieces of bread, and cover each slice in mayo.  On four pieces add the Muenster cheese, on four pieces of bread add the Swiss cheese.  As you can see, I actually only ended up using 2 pieces of cheese for the 4 sandwiches because the cheese was so big, so I cut them in half, cutting calories and saving my waistline without losing flavor.  Your call, your sandwich, I'm not the boss of you.  I just wanted to let you know that the recipe calls for 1 full slice per sandwich.

Now let's add the ham and turkey.  I only used a couple pieces of each per sandwich or a little under an 1/8 lb. of each meat per sandwich, so it's still about 4 oz. of meat that your getting in the end.  

Now it's time to add the healthy stuff that gives it the crunch and flavor.  Yes you can leave this out, but no I don't recommend it!  The green apples add so much to the sandwich, that even if it sounds weird to you, try it before you knock it.  You will thank me later!

After you have cut the core out, thinly slice the apples.  You just want a little crunch, you don't want an apple sandwich.

 

Now place the apples over the turkey, and place the arugula over the ham.  The arugula gives the sandwich a little peppery zest with all the delicious nutrients it has to offer. 

Put those two sides together to make a delicious sandwich and dip it in the matcha egg batter.  Make sure both sides get in on the action.  

Get a large skillet and melt the butter over medium high heat and when the pan is nice and hot, add the dipped monte cristo to the pan.

**Note: I usually have to cook the 4 sandwiches in two batches unless I get out the really big pan, but just make sure not to crowd the pan.**

Let the sandwiches cook for 3-5 minutes and then flip over.  Look at that pretty golden brown color.

Look at the little green arugula peeking out of the bread.  Colorful food just makes me happy.

And if you look really close, you can see the green hue of the bread.  No the bread is not moldy, it will be green because of the matcha.  Think of it as Spring saying hello, or as a way to get ready for St. Patty's day.

After 3-5 minutes on each side, and when the cheese is melted the sandwich is ready for consumption.  Cut the sandwiches in half, dust with some powdered sugar,

and serve with some blackberry preserves.

Matcha Monte Cristo

Makes 4 sandwiches

2 large eggs, beaten

½ c. milk

2 Tbsp. matcha green tea powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

8 slices Texas toast bread

¼ c. mayonnaise

½ lb. deli sliced roasted turkey

½ lb. deli sliced honey ham

4 slices Swiss cheese

4 slices Muenster cheese

1 c. arugula

1 green apple, granny smith, thinly sliced

4 tbsp. butter

Blackberry preserves, for dipping

Powdered sugar, for garnish

In a medium bowl add in the eggs, milk, matcha, and vanilla and whisk until all combined.  Set aside.  For assembly: Lay out the slices of bread, and divided the mayonnaise equally on the pieces of bread.  On 4 pieces of bread equally divide and layer the Swiss cheese, topped with turkey, topped with green apples.  On the other 4 slices of bread, equally divide and layer the Muenster cheese, topped with ham and arugula.  Put the a half that has the ham and a half that has the turkey together to make a sandwich.  In a large skillet add the butter.  Dip and coat each sandwich (both sides), and place in the skillet.  Cook sandwiches 3-5 minutes on medium high heat on each side until browned and cheese has melted.  Garnish with powdered sugar and serve with blackberry preserves.

-Cool