Monte Cristo Sandwiches

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but next March my husband and I are taking a Mexico trip with four other couples. So, of course you start to think about how you will be living in a swimsuit for seven days straight. YIKES!!!! Not sure how great I feel about that:) Brad and I decided to start eating better and not snacking at night.

Everything was going fine until my sister in law gave me a jar of her homemade raspberry jam and I was instantly taken back to a restaurant where I had a Monte Cristo sandwich. It was truly the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G sandwich I have ever eaten. Like pure heaven. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and decided to tackle it. The only changes I made were to add a pinch of nutmeg to the batter, and used provolone cheese instead of Swiss. Let's just say that upon taking the first bite, all you could here were groans coming from our mouths. And Miss Emma, who is quite the picky eater, had three of them (the sandwiches are quartered before you fry them).

Sooooo, without having salivating anymore, here is the recipe!

Monte Cristo Sandwiches- Modified from Allrecipes.com

2/3 cup water
1 egg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 slices wheat bread
4 slices provolone
4 slices turkey
4 slices ham
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Raspberry jam for dipping

Heat oil to 365 degrees F (180 degrees C). While oil is heating, make the batter: Whisk together the egg and water in a medium size bowl. Combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper; whisk into the egg mixture until smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator. I made the batter right after lunch so it was ready by supper.
Assemble sandwiches by placing one slice of turkey on one slice of bread, a slice of ham on another, then sandwich them with the provolone cheese in the middle. Some recipes call for a mixture of mustard and mayo to spread on sandwiches, but I left it out. Cut sandwiches into quarters, and secure with toothpicks.
Dip each sandwich quarter in the batter so that all sides are coated. Deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides. Remove toothpicks and arrange on a serving tray. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving, and dip sandwiches in raspberry jam!!

I will be linking this up with Tasty Tuesday, Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday and Tuesdays at the Table for next week!