- Hey guys, it's Alix!
The other day, I was browsing the internet
because I was pretty bored, and I came across
a vintage recipe that was so bizarre and so random
that I wondered if I could take that same recipe
and turn it into something super delicious.
So that's what I'm gonna do. (laughing)
This recipe is from 1973.
It was published in McCall's Great American Recipe
card collection, and it's for
ham and bananas hollandaise.
Yeah.
You take a bunch of bananas,
you wrap them in mustard and ham,
and then you cover them in hollandaise sauce.
- [Taster] I'm gagging a little bit just cutting it apart.
- That's not fun.
(silly music)
Now you guys know I love bananas.
But I have to say, this takes it too far.
(light jazz music)
So I'm still gonna try to use the key elements of this dish.
I might, you know, deconstruct it a little bit,
add a couple things, but for the most part,
I wanna keep the spirit of the dish alive.
Even though I don't know if it really should be alive!
The ham kind of reminded me of a croque madame.
So a croque madame is like a croque monsieur
with an egg on top.
It's almost like an elevated grilled cheese sandwich
but it's super creamy and gooey and cheesy and delicious.
So I'm gonna add some banana to it.
This might be really good, or it could be totally bananas.
(light jazz music)
Now the original recipe calls for a hollandaise sauce,
but, to stick with the croque madame theme a little more,
I'm gonna go with bechamel.
It's gonna go in the sandwich, on top of the sandwich.
It'll be great!
Bechamel is great because it's a super mild flavor.
I mean, it's just butter, flour, and then your milk,
so I think it can go with a lot of things, like bananas!
You just wanna whisk it pretty constantly
so that it doesn't burn or end up clumpy.
Looking good.
Nice and thick.
So now I'm just gonna season it with a little bit of salt
and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
So in the original recipe, the mustard was spread on the ham
that was wrapped around the banana, which is a little weird.
So to incorporate the mustard in a way that made sense,
I thought it would be really nice to add the mustard
directly to the bechamel.
I'm gonna give a try.
Mm!
That's actually really nice.
It's not too mustardy but it has a good tang to it.
I think this just might work.
So now for our banana.
I am gonna slice up one banana.
Now in the original recipe, the bananas were left whole,
but I think by slicing 'em, it might make it
a little bit more palatable.
So now I'm gonna put my sliced bananas in a bowl
and top them with a little bit of lemon juice.
This will help prevent the bananas from browning.
It's also another element that they did
in the original recipe.
This is so weird. (laughing)
Good.
Next, this is where it gets a little crazy.
If it's not already.
So first I'm gonna start by spreading
some of our mustard bechamel on both slices of white bread.
(light jazz music)
So I'm gonna top the bread
with a little bit of Swiss cheese.
Now Gruyere is more classic to a croque madame,
but I feel like Swiss is a little bit more common.
And, I'm hoping that the tanginess of the Swiss cheese
helps in cutting down some of that sweetness of the banana.
So now, I'm gonna top the cheese with our banana.
(light jazz music)
So in the original recipe, the ham was wrapped
around the whole bananas.
Here, we're sticking it inside the sandwich,
kinda like ham is supposed to be used. (laughing)
And then finish it off with even more Swiss cheese.
And now just place the other slice of bread right on top.
Woo!
That is a big sandwich.
(epic music)
All right, so now we're gonna cook this baby
so she gets really nice and melty and gooey and delicious.
(light jazz music)
All right.
Gonna put my sandwich on a foil-lined baking sheet
and we're gonna top it with even more bechamel.
Ooh!
That is looking real good.
And even more cheese.
All right, now I'm gonna pop this baby in the broiler
to melt down the cheese.
(light jazz music)
So now we're gonna put a delicious fried egg right on top
because that's what makes it a croque madame.
(pleasant acoustic music)
Honestly, this looks pretty delicious.
The cheese is melty and crispy.
Got that fried egg on top.
I know the bananas are a bit of a wild card,
probably a pretty big wild card. (laughing)
All right let's cut this baby open!
Shouldn't cut the baby, don't cut the baby.
(light jazz music)
Oh yeah.
That runny yolk!
There's nothing like a runny yolk.
All right, it's time to try it.
I'm actually kind of excited.
Here we go.
(suspenseful music)
I'm into it.
I'm actually really into it!
Honestly, it's super delicious.
You get the saltiness from the cheese.
That egg, that gooey-ness from the bechamel.
And then just a hit of sweetness from the bananas.
They're not like, aggressive.
It just adds like a nice little sweet tang.
It's a little weird. (laughing)
I could eat this whole thing.
I'm into it!
The original dish was, like, banana blasphemy.
But this, this is a banana blessing.
You're welcome. (laughing)
Okay, here's my mom!
So Mom, I'm gonna let you try what I made.
(laughing) Uh oh.
- [Mom] I think I would praise you for your creativity.
(Alix laughing)
(light jazz music)