How to make a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich

Artisanal breads and cheese are made by artisans, specialists who produce their goods on a small scale.

1. Add the grated cheese to both sides of the bread. This way when you bite into it you have cheese on top and bottom.

2. Then add the bacon, close to each other but not overlapping.

3. Peel an apple, taking the core out. Slice about 1/16 of an inch, you don’t want it too thick or the sandwich will come apart. Add the slices of apple on top of the bacon. It’s optional to add the apple, if you just want cheddar and bacon, or just the cheese, it would be absolutely delicious.

4. Press down to make it compressed. Trim the edge of the bread. Butter one side of the bread with a tablespoon of butter.

5. Then put another tablespoon butter in the pan. Non-buttered side down first, since there’s already melted butter in the pan. Cook on low medium heat and with a spatula press it down a bit, until it’s golden brown, flip it over, pat it down.

6. Then pop it into a 350 degree oven for just a couple or three minutes the bottom half starts to get crispy while the inside gets hot and the cheese melts. Cut it on an angle for a different look.

Place it on a plate, add a little salad with it to make it a complete lunch. But don’t stop watching until you hear the crunch of the sandwich.

8 slices smoked bacon, double smoked if possible
6 oz grated cheddar cheese, I use the farmstead artisanal cheddar cheese from England but you can use another cheddar, high quality
¼ granny smith apple peeled and sliced
2 T butter.
4 slices country bread, we used a boule: an artisanal bread is best.

Hello, I’m chef Terrence Brennen with howdini.com. I’m the chef proprietor of Picholine Restaurant in Manhattan, New York, and I’m going to show you how to make an artisanal grill cheese.

Let’s go over the ingredients. Eight pieces of smoked bacon try and get the one that is double smoked. Six ounces of cheddar cheese, I use the Farmstead cheeses from England. Artisanal cheddar, but you can also if you can’t find it in your local market you can use another cheddar that’s available at high quality. A Granny Smith apple that is quarter sliced, two tablespoons of butter, and four slices of country bread, this is a bowl. I’m not going to worry so much about having even slices cause its going to look like a hand made sandwich. The bread is going to be a little uneven, cut it a little bit thicker. I like to have a lot of crunchy bread for a grilled cheese.

First we are going to add the grated cheese on both sides, I like to have cheese on both sides of the bread. So when you bite it you have melted cheese on top and bottom. Okay, so just distribute tat evenly. Then I’m going to add my bacon, and slightly next to each other not supposed to overlap them. Now I’m going to peal an apple and slice it about one-sixteenth of an inch. You don’t want it too think because the sandwich will come apart. Then we are going to add the slices on top of the bacon. And this is optional you don’t have to add the apple if you just want the cheddar and the bacon, if you just want the cheese it would still be delicious. Okay, now I’m going to flip this on top and just make sure I press down on it, so it compresses. I’m going to trim the edge off a little bit.

Okay, I’m going to butter one side, one tablespoon of butter. Non-butter side down first because we have butter in the pan already. And then when we flip this we have the butter on the other side. Low-medium heat, and we’ll take a spatula and make sure to press it down a bit. Cook this over a low-medium heat until it is golden brown, flip it over, then pop it in the oven for two to three minutes so it is nice a gooey. Now it is golden brown on the bottom and you just flip it. You can use your, two-hand job because it’s a big sandwich, nice and easy. Pat it down again.

Now this is when I’m going to pop it into the oven, three hundred fifty degree oven for about two to three minutes. While it’s in the oven the bottom half of that sandwich will start to caramelize and get crispy, while on the inside the cheese melts.

Okay, let’s see how our sandwich is doing, ahh looks great. Crunchy, the cheese is melted. Place it on the cutting board so I can cut it. Cut it on an angle so I can get a little bit of a different look. Then we have, see the bacon and the cheddar, the apple, and we’ll just place it on our plate. And we’ll have a little salad with it. The salad helps cut the richness of the cheese and makes it a complete lunch. I’m Terrence Brennen for howdini.com don’t go away yet. Wait till you hear the crunch of this sandwich. Now that’s a grill cheese.