Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

I love the Vegg egg yolk sub for making French toast-- it makes the BEST, most authentic vegan French toast I have ever tried.  I made lots of French toast for my granddaughters this last weekend, but had some batter leftover (the recipe is on the Vegg package, by the way, but also below in the sandwich recipe).  (PS: You can use your own favorite vegan French toast batter, of course, as long as it's not sweet.)
This morning I decided to use the leftover batter to make an old-fashioned sandwich that I haven't had for years-- a Monte Cristo Sandwich.  It's basically a ham and turkey sandwich with cheese, dipped in French toast batter and browned on both sides until the cheese melts. Traditionally, this is served with currant jelly, strawberry jam or cranberry sauce on the side, but I ate my version just plain.  I also bucked tradition and used a lovely moist 100% whole wheat sourdough bread that we occasionally by from a local bakery, instead of the usual white bread.  The result was very satisfying, to say the least!

The origins of this sandwich are a little murky.  The Food Timeline website says: "Recipe-wise, food experts generally consider the Monte Cristo sandwich to be a simple variation of an early 20th century French dish called Croque Monsieur. According to several articles published in newspapers and magazines, Monte Cristo sandwiches were first served in southern California and were very popular in the 1950s-1970s. Therin ends the agreement. The who/what/why/where/when behind the Monte Cristo sandwich is still very much a subject of debate.

The earliest reference we find to a Monte Cristo sandwich is printed in a 1941 menu from Gordon's on Wilshire Blvd., Los Angles. We do not know how these were made. The oldest recipe we have (so far) for the Monte Cristo sandwich was printed in The Brown Derby Cook Book, 1949. The Brown Derby restaurant is located in Los Angeles, California and is famous for serving Hollywood's elite."
And...
"Several popular American cookbooks published in the 1920s-60s published recipes for sandwiches which are essentially Monte Cristos [ham--sliced & deviled/turkey/chicken sandwiches dipped in egg & then fried to a tasty golden brown], under different names."

If you'd like to try it, here's my vegan version:

BRYANNA'S VEGAN MONTE CRISTO SANDWICH

For each sandwich:

2 slices of bread (it's supposed to be white, but I used an artisan sourdough whole wheat:

         You'd better be really, really hungry before you eat a meal like this!  

I have to apologize for being so silent during the last two weeks!  I've been wanting to write this post on the new cookbook "Betty Goes Vegan" for a month, but life keeps getting in the way!  I've never met Annie and Dan Shannon, but what a dynamo pair they must be.  This project was a huge commitment (good thing there are two of them, is all I can say!) and they can be very proud of their achievement.

Their fun and slightly cheeky "Betty Goes Vegan" is not only a massive hit, but it's a massive collection (500 recipes) of comfort-food vegan dishes. For anyone who grew up in North America, with a Betty Crocker cookbook of some kind or other (perhaps a tattered and dog-eared one that belonged to your mother or grandmother; perhaps the 2010 version that the Shannons used for this project), this is nostalgia gone vegan.  The Shannons have perfected vegan versions of many all-American favorites, such as biscuits with  gravy, fried eggs (yes, indeed!), brisket and cabbage, German potato salad, Snickerdoodles, and crab cakes, plus numerous international recipes such as the "great English breakfast", Italian Wedding Soup, Ramen bowls, Caribbean black beans with rice, Paella, and lots more.  The dessert section is 100 pages alone! So many choices, so little time!

I wanted cook a whole meal from the book for this blog post, but it was very difficult to choose the recipes.  In the end, I decided to do a brunch menu-- the Denver Omelet (which was a favorite of mine as a teenager), the Creole Potato Wedges, the pillowy-soft-in-the center Garlic and Cheese Biscuits (see photo below).


For the vegetable dish to round out the meal I made the spicy, creamy Old Bay Coleslaw-- a real winner:

I had planned on doing a dessert, but, to tell you the truth, we wouldn't have been able to eat it! Another time (DH will be happy).

The meal was a huge success-- DH loved all of it and everything was quite easy to prepare.  And, honestly, your picky omnivore brother-in-law would be hard-pressed to find fault with this brunch! (That reminds me-- BGV would be a great gift for a new vegan or thinking-about-it friend or relative.) Here are two of the recipes I made from this fabulous addition to the vegan cookbook universe, courtesy of  Grand Central Publishing.

       Crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside Creole Potato Wedges and Old Bay Coleslaw with a creamy, spicy dressing accompanied the Vegan Denver Omelet.

I'm a bit late blogging this week and this will be a quickie blog post, too.  Easter, company, family stuff and working on a longer post (cookbook review) got in the way.  But, until I get that one done (tomorrow?), here's a new recipe I'm quite pleased with.

I'm always on the lookout for low-fat salad dressings that don't scream "low-fat"-- dressings that I can serve to guests who never worry about fat or calories, confident that they won't be disappointed.  I have been using  dressings made with my Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings (4 parts to 1 part olive oil, usually), such as Figgy-Balsamic-Sesame Vinaigrette and variations thereof (UPDATE: or use aquafaba/chickpea canned or cooking broth instead);  or silken-tofu-based dressings, such as Lowfat Poppyseed Dressing or Creamy Lemon-Agave Dressing.  Lately I've been experimenting with creamy dressings made with well-cooked white beans or chickpeas, such as Oil-Free Creamy Bean-Based "Caesar" Dressing.  (I've found that white beans make a good substitute for silken tofu in dressings, if you blend them until they are very smooth.  This is good news because they are much less expensive than silken tofu, and soy-free, if that is a concern.)  On occasion I've used fruit or vegetable-thickened dressings, such as Roasted Garlic Dressing or Blueberry/Pomegranate Vinaigrette.  They have all been well-received.  (I haven't had much luck with chia seed dressings, though, for some reason-- maybe I just don't like chia.)

Today, I had a couple of ripe pears around and I remembered that blended raw pears made a delicious, creamy dessert sauce.   Since pears are a mild-tasting fruit and their fruit is a bit pulpy, but blends down to a creamy texture, I thought it might make a nice thickening for salad dressing, too.  I was right, and the resulting recipe is below.  NOTE: Though I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, I think it would be fine without it.  And I think this recipe would be an excellent base recipe for all sorts of variations.   I hope you enjoy it.



Note: When you are tasting your salad dressing, remember that this is not something you are going to drink-- you are only going to use a bit of it to dress your salad greens.  So, it should not have a sharpness that will hit you at the back of the throat and make your eyes water, but it should be full-flavored.

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S CREAMY PEAR-BASED VINAIGRETTE (TARRAGON VERSION)-- New, Improved Version Aug. 20, 2015
Makes 2 1/2 cups
Play around with this recipe, using different varieties of  vinegar (or lemon or lime juice),  different herbs, and other types of oil (if you use oil), such as roasted sesame or nut oil.

2 medium, ripe pears, peeled and cored and cut into small dice (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
(Or, for a No-Fat version, omit the oil and use use 2 tablespoons more water, or juice, aquafaba/chickpea broth, or non-dairy milk, creamer or yogurt.)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, minced)
Optional: 1/2 tablespoon golden flax seeds

Blend all of the ingredients together in a high-speed blender until very smooth.  Store in a covered jar in the refrigerator.  Simple as that!

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per 2 tablespoons serving): Calories 13.63, Calories From Fat, 7.28, Total Fat 0.84g, Saturated Fat 0.11g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 57.76mg, Potassium 15.35mg, Total Carbohydrates 1.67g, Fiber 0.35g, Sugar 0.91g, Protein 0.1g.

Enjoy!