In Pursuit of the Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich

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I just noticed that today or tomorrow my blog will hit the 100,000 page views milestone.  This makes me as happy as that pug.  Thanks for caring and reading.  This blog as been a wonderful creative outlet for me and I hope I can continue to make you want to keep clicking.  In honor of this milestone and to have an entry for a grilled cheese sandwich contest, I decided to work on creating a very tasty grilled cheese sandwich just for you.  Here’s my recipe.  I hope you like it.  Nothing says, “Thanks for reading my blog” better than a savory sandwich. 

I had a basic idea of what I wanted to create.  Here is what I started out with…I later added Miracle Whip (not because I didn’t plan to use it initially, but because I forgot to get it out of the fridge for this picture) and English Muffin Bread.

I took a picture of the Miracle Whip separately…to give it the honor it deserves.

The bread choices I used were Sourdough Bread, European Style Waffles and English Muffin Bread.  Ultimately, the Sourdough Bread won out. The cheese choices were mild Gruyère and Wisconsin Swiss.  In the end, I decided there was really no need to chose one cheese and that there was a home for both cheeses on my sandwich.

The European Style Waffle option was too sweet.  I will revisit this idea; however, I’ll make it an egg and maple-flavored bacon sandwich.

The English muffin bread option was actually really good.  It just wasn’t as good as the Sourdough bread option.

The Whistle Stop

Ingredients

Loaf of Sourdough Bread from the bakery

Mild Gruyère, shredded

Wisconsin Swiss, shredded

Parmesan, shredded

Butter, room temp

Bacon (crispy fried)

Green Tomatoes

Panko Bread Crumbs

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Eggs

Olive Oil or Cooking Spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice green tomatoes.  One slice per sandwich.  Grease cooking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray. In a bowl crack two eggs and whisk.  In another bowl, mix handful of panko, handful of Parmesan cheese, dash of salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.  Drench tomato in egg and then cover completely in panko mixture.  Place tomatoes on cooking sheet and cook until golden brown (about 30 minutes).  I baked the green tomatoes instead of frying to keep the sandwich less greasy.  Trust me…you won’t be disappointed with the baked green tomatoes.

While your tomatoes are baking, fry your bacon.  You’ll want it to be crispy friend because it is just better that way.  Slice your sourdough bread (avoid slicing it too thick because it will take too long for your cheese to melt).  Butter both sides of your bread and heat up a skillet or griddle (spray with butter flavored Pam cooking spray or add butter).

Build you sandwich like this:  first add Gruyère, then baked (but fried tasting) green tomato, a bit of Miracle Whip, bacon and then Swiss.  Place in skillet or on griddle and grill until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is completely melted.


Click Here to Print Recipe!