Disneyland's Blue Bayou Monte Cristo Sandwich

This sandwich is about wonderful memories my son and I share.  I took him here on our first visit to Disneyland when he was six.  We went to the Blue Bayou restaurant and enjoyed this luxurious treat.  We repeated this every year after, on every visit.  This is the definition of decadent and if you ever visit Disneyland, I highly recommend the experience by savoring it over the bayou of the Pirates of the Caribbean.  Truly a magical experience... He was so excited when I told him I was going to make this for him tonight.


There's not really any way to make this healthy, so it is best considered a SPLURGE and then letting it go...the recipe makes 4 sandwiches. There are a lot of copy cats and the Disney original out there on the interweb, so I just googled a few and did my thing, below:

1 egg (I used organic free range)

1 cup water

1  cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

8 slices French Brioche, sliced 1/2-inch thick

8 thin slices ham (I used Nitrate free)

8 thin slices turkey (I used Nitrate free)

Fresh cracked pepper

8 thin slices Swiss cheese

1/2 inch avocado oil in cast iron skillet, heated to med-high

Confectioners sugar, in a small sieve sprinkled on sandwich for garnish

Blackberry preserves (I made my own with 12 oz. fresh blackberries, 1 cup Welch's grape jelly and lemon juice - 2 tsp.)

Grapes, as garnish on plate.  I had some black ones (they matched the blackberry preserves, 😊)

I made the preserves first.

I just heated about a cup of jelly in a saucepan, added the blackberries and lemon juice and simmered it down for about 15 minutes.

I crushed the blackberries with a potato masher.  When it was slightly thickened, I removed from the heat.  It was liquidy and runny so I waited until it was cooled to see what happened with it.  It tasted fine, and was tart, which I liked.

I made the batter next.  I mixed the liquids first and then whisked in the remaining ingredients and stirred until the batter was nice and smooth.

I sliced the bread and assembled the sandwiches.  The bread was $7 a loaf at Costco, but it was from France so I thought it was worth the expense for this evening.  It was sweet and eggy and I hoped it would be perfect for the sandwich.

I decided to use a slice of Swiss cheese on each side and put the meat in between.  I put some fresh cracked pepper on the turkey.

I put 2 toothpicks in and then cut them in half.

The oil was heating as I was doing this.

When it was hot enough - I tested by sprinkling a bit of batter in and to hear/see it sizzle, I battered the sandwich halves.  All 4 went into the oil.  These were smaller than regular sliced bread.  I fried each side until golden brown and then flipped.

I put them on paper towels to remove any excess oil.  I removed the toothpicks, plated and sprinkled with icing sugar.

These were delicious, but not crispy like going in a DEEP fry would have made them.  Also, I should have put 4 toothpicks in because they slid a little while being battered.  Nonetheless, there was no complaints here.  The blackberries were just right being thin, easier to dip in and the tartness was nice against the sweet bread and sugar dusting.  I won't be making this anytime soon again, but it was nice to finally try it at home.

EDIT:  July 1, 2018:

I made this for company today using Challah bread and Canadian back bacon.  It was a hit!