You're having grilled cheese for dinner tonight. An ooey, gooey grilled cheese made on a chewy sourdough bread grilled to crunchy perfection, layered with melty sharp cheddar, salty crisp bacon, crisp green apple and a drizzle of sweet maple syrup.
See? I told you. You're having grilled cheese for dinner tonight.
At this point I think it's very, very important that I let you know I am 100% behind the original Wonderbread, plastic cheese, grilled cheese sandwich. It's a classic. I'm all for it.
But .... I'm a grown up now, so I also eat fancy grilled cheeses. Churched up, elegant mutations of the childhood classic that are better suited to my more refined adult palate. When it isn't busy with Sour Patch Kids.
To make the perfect grown up grilled cheese you just need a few tips on technique and ingredients.
THE 3 ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS FOR A GRILLED CHEESE
1. A grown up grilled cheese begins with the right bread. SOURDOUGH BREAD.
~ Sourdough bread is THE best bread for getting crispy on the outside while maintaining a perfect chewiness on the inside, PLUS it has flavour.
2. A grown up grilled cheese also needs the right cheese. SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE.
~ Sharp Cheddar Cheese has good flavour but more importantly it's melty! It's melty!
3. A grown up grilled cheese also needs a frying fat. MAYONNAISE.
~ Mayonnaise is the grown up alternative to butter when making a grilled cheese but I'm going to tell you a secret. I prefer butter. Mayo spreads easier and really does help the bread get good and crispy but ... I prefer butter. Better flavour.
If you want to make your grilled cheese out of just those 3 ingredients; sourdough, cheddar & mayo/butter I'm O.K. with that. It's delicious. But if you want to make a truly grown up grilled cheese; the kind of grilled cheese that you could serve at your wedding to a member of the royal family then THIS is the way to go.
This is the recipe for Hamilton's famous Lumberjack grilled cheese invented by Gorilla Cheese.
THE BEST GRILLED CHEESE YOU'LL EVER EAT.
Ingredients
- Sourdough bread
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded not sliced
- Mayo or butter
- ½ Granny Smith Apple sliced thin
- Bacon cooked crisp
- Maple Syrup
Instructions
- Butter (or mayo) both sides of all of your bread.
- Lightly fry one side of each slice of bread in butter over medium/low heat then remove from pan.
- Place a large handful of shredded cheese, slices of apple to cover the cheese, 2 strips of bacon and a big drizzle of maple syrup on the toasted side of a piece of bread. You want the ingredients to be sitting on the toasted side!
- Top with another slice of bread, toasted side down.
- Return the assembled sandwich to the frying pan with at LEAST 2 large tablespoons of butter over medium/low heat. Fry each side until golden.
I want to make sure you noticed the tips in there so I'm going to list them for you because I am a conscientious blogger who wants to ensure you have a pleasant grilled cheese experience. Plus I feel like my instructions are a bit muddled.
GRILLED CHEESE TIPS
- Shred your cheese - don't slice it
- Cook over medium/low heat. Low and slow please to prevent burning.
- Toast the *inside* of the bread as well as the outside. Also a good trick for quesadillas btw.
Serve with local craft beer and a kosher dill pickle.
Oh! And if you want to do the whole pickle skewered to the top thing like I do, you can get the sandwich paddle picks here. They're 6" so they're long enough to go right through the sandwich to keep it from toppling over.
You're an adult. You deserve this kind of a grilled cheese. The kind of grilled cheese that says, Hey! I'm a grown up. I use a rinse agent in my dishwasher.
You're going to say you like red onion on your grilled cheese. I know that. This just isn't the grilled cheese to do that with, so please don't. Red onion with mozzarella, fontina, a balsamic reduction and basil leaves? Go for it. Just don't add them to this particular Ultimate Grilled Cheese please.
Now. Someone pass the ketchup.
So I can throw it out the window.
That’s what I always do with ketchup too! I gotta go make this—NOW!
Same
Why would anyone eff up a grilled cheese w ketchup??!?!
Tried this tonight Karen. That bread was so dang toasty it made the roof of my mouth feel like I had eaten a bag (big) of Ruffles. It was so awesome! Thanks for reposting it. Also, the pictures are just great.
Grilled cheese with soup is a meal BF and I worship!! totally agree about the sourdough (with butter not mayo) and love it with gouda, sometimes I add arugula or lobster (and then i add mayo too) cause I'm always looking for more ways to use up the lobster. ; ) I'll have to try this version, looks and sounds absolutely amazing. ~ C
Enough with you and all your bragging about lobster!!! ;) Email me with any and all of your vegetable gardening questions. Your Instagram feed of your raised beds looks soooooo pretty. ~ karen!
I know I'm late to the party here, but use ghee! Butter flavor in a spreadable form (so long as you keep it in the cabinet/pantry--not fridge). Vive le beurre!!
Oh don't worry about it, this party never ends! ;) Good tip about the ghee. ~ karen!
I definitely agree with the sharp cheddar. A lot of people make it with processed cheese and the finished product just not in the same league.
I've done something similar with peameal bacon as its healthier, but on the other hand the thinness of classic bacon lets the cheese flavour come through more.
A weird twist on this is throwing in some Bick's Yum Yum pickles. The contrast between the pickles and the cheese is interesting.
That is a weird twist. ;) ~ karen!
Not sure how I feel about this. I get apples and cheddar, and maple syrup and bacon is awesome. But bacon and cheese together is a nope for me-
I know you're going to hate my suggestions, but I like to add some super sauteed kale in there (in place of the apples).
You're right, I do hate that. LOL! I actually don't completely hate kale, only partially. ~ karen!
I was just visiting my parents and they took me to Taj Mahal up in Ancaster. Milap (sp?) is the owner there and loved talking about his cheese! I took home a coconut cheddar, a caramelized onion cheese and a mustard and ale cheese. Check him out!
oh oh - competition ... http://www.saveur.com/turkish-kumru-grilled-cheese-sandwich?src=SOC&dom=fb
I wonder- could I saute the apple in some butter to cook it some? Hubby cannot eat raw apples. hmm will have to try that...
So... I made this last night. Yes I actually drove to town and bought some sourdough because I could not wait weeks for the starter. I did everything you instructed but found that the top piece wasn't sticking so I added a bit more cheese on top of the bacon and once that melted it was perfect. Dinner was really quiet until the moaning started, then a few OMGs and "is that apple?" "maple syrup?" and then more OMGs. It was declared to be perfect. It is now on the request list. Guess I better get started on the sourdough starter. You rock Karen!
SO glad you (and your family) liked it Susan! :) ~ karen
Yummy! We've been making apple bacon grilled cheese for years in our house, it's a favorite Friday night dinner (with sourdough and mayo) but instead of maple syrup, we spread Dijon mustard on the bread. So good!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love apples so, so much. To include them in the magic of a toasted cheese sandwich is a miracle.
It is. It's a cheesy, appley miracle. ~ karen!
Grilled cheese with tomato soup is my favourite but no apple or mayo or maple syrup.
So yummy looking.
I have a bowl of beer cheese soup I am currently slurping up. If my back was cooperating I'd make a grilled cheese to accompany it.
HOWEVER I am recovering from cleaning my spring house (woodedretreats.com) while cleaning every nook and cranny cause that's what I do...I was in master closet when a mouse jumped down from shelf.
I ran left vaccum running, shivering, slammed the door, called my husband (who didn't answer).
Texted his secretary cause she always answers...neighbor was called not a wuss. (Thank you Rita) came over with a 5 gal bucket a towel and a flat nosed shovel. I sat on dining room table still shaking while she bumped and tossed and moved stuff around. Finally she came out and said "Cathy I want to show you something".
My bowels got looser.....Wow the access to the shower my dh cut was raw... opened I am surprised a black bear didn't make a home in that closet. Holy hell.
Mouse ran out same way it came in. We duct taped panel to wall (temporary fix). Now I am enjoying a gin and tonic. Yeesh.... exhausted.
Will try your yummy grilled cheese soon! Thanks Karen. I have absorbed all your posts...most recently your advice on mice 🐭
I just caught the one last night that made it into my house somehow. (Door left ajar while I ran out to get the mail?) ItucsonPatty chewed on a piece of gum to get it soft enough to smush onto the bait hook and then smeared that with peanut butter -yippee!!
Great idea TUCSON PATTY!
Ohhhh, it was good. It was very, very good. Butter, not mayo; I am in Wisconsin. Extra sharp cheddar. I would never have dreamed up this combo. The syrup was kind of lost in the other flavors, but maybe it just blended well. I took a pic but it is so lame next to yours I will not embarrass myself by sending it to you. Thanks for the idea.
I was *just* wondering if someone was going to let me know if they tried it. :) Glad you liked it. Yes, you need to give a good glug of maple syrup to taste it or you're right it gets lost. Now I'm off to eat my dinner tonight. ~ karen!
Sweet baby Jesus that looks good!
ohhhh so gorgeous...(drool).
I know I just had lunch - there's a used plate sitting here - but all memory of it has been wiped from my brain and other sensory receptors. All now screaming for Karen's grilled cheese masterpiece.
Karen, I'm going to have to send you a jar of smoked tomato jam....it's the grown up version of ketchup!
Seeing as I forgot to take anything out of the freezer last night....grilled cheese it is tonight, cholesterol be damned!
Seeing as you also live in Ontario...you probably have some of the same grocery stores...are you allowed to share what you consider to be a truly sharp cheddar?
If I really want to wake up my taste buds with cheddar I would opt for one of those English cheddars....but they are a tad expensive...any suggestions, anyone who lives in Ontario that is? Thanks.
Hi Shelagh,
I would also like to know (I live in Ontario as well, about an hour from Karen). I buy cheese in regular grocery stores (Zehrs [our version of Loblaws - I wish we had Fortino's], Sobey, Food Basics - the selection is rather limited here.
Epic! Thank you for sharing! Gorilla Cheese was one of the first food trucks in Hamilton. They rock!