Gruyère Apple Grilled Cheese with Bacon: A Crunchy, Creamy and Indulgent Sandwich

It's "Crunchy vs. Creamy" this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs. I am a fan of both textures depending on my mood and when you just can't make up your mind, something like Mark Bittman's Gruyère Apple Grilled Cheese is perfect. It is a little weighted toward the crunchy side with the toasted sourdough bread, the apples and the crispy bacon (which I added based on Bittman's recommendation), but the melted cheese gives it that creamy factor too. It is indulgent comfort food and a quick and easy lunch or dinner.

Bittman says "Add a couple bacon slices for smokiness (and of course, meatiness!)."


Gruyère Apple Grilled Cheese with Bacon

"Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express"

Butter slices of good-quality sourdough bread. Layer Gruyère cheese and thinly sliced tart apples and top with another slice of the buttered bread. Cook the sandwiches in a few tablespoons of melted butter--you can use a press or an ordinary skillet with a bit of weight on top of the sandwich--turning once, until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown on both sides, about eight minutes total.

Notes/Results: Pretty darn perfect--an excellent combination of crisp, tart green apple, slightly earthy, nutty caved-aged Gruyère, sweet creamy butter, tangy, chewy sourdough bread and the smoky bacon. (I usually bake my nitrate-free bacon in the oven at 400 degrees F. for about 12-15 minutes and end with a couple minutes under the broiler to make it nice and crisp.) Not having a fancy schmancy panini pan, I used my grill pan and a heavy pot lid to weight it down and give it its lovely grill marks. ;-) This is not a low-fat sandwich but with good quality, pure ingredients it is so delicious that it is worthy of indulging in occasionally. I will make this sandwich again.

You can see how the other IHCC participants indulged in their crunchy and creamy sides by going to the IHCC site (here) and following the links. You can also check out the poll to vote in our new chef to start in October--I am going to hate to say good-bye to Mark Bittman. ;-( Of course I cooked his recipes before IHCC and I know I will continue to cook them long after and we have 4 great female chefs to choose from for our next round so it's all good.

Aloha,