Later April - It's been real.

Raise your hand if April has been the longest month of your life so far. We've all had our share of complaints about the never ending snow and cold weather. We've also told each other what we were doing 'last year at this time' since it was abnormally warm last spring. But guess what?! April is almost over and so is that blasted winter we couldn't get rid of! No one can complain anymore!

The only sad thing is, Grilled Cheese month is also almost over. Womp wooommp. I know, you're as heart broken as I am. It's ok. I have one more to share with you. That doesn't mean I won't make them anymore this year - it just won't be quite as big of a deal. Or will it?

I had to include this in my 'leftovers' category, because I used up some beef roast that was waiting patiently in the fridge. I soaked it up in some of my favorite bbq sauce and slow cooked it for about 4 hours. I then caramelized some onions that I already had sliced up from a previous meal - caramelized onions are the best.

Once my ingredients were ready, I got out some cheese - American slices (I know, I rarely even have that in my fridge) and some Prairie Rose from Milton Creamery (Swiss-style). I stacked everything together and made a delicious, heart-warming grilled cheese. No sides needed.

Did you make any grilled cheese sandwiches this month? Share your favorites with us!

If You Can't Beat It, Join It

If you're living in the Midwest, you might know what my title is all about. Snow. It won't go away. It's cold, it's muddy, it's wet and snowy. We're confused. But I just heard a report yesterday that the record latest 'defrost' in the Twin Cities was May 9th one year. I can't remember the year - and it might have been the 8th, but that's not the point. The point is... I'm not complaining. I would absolutely LOVE to get outside and start planting the garden and go for walks without three layers on - but I'll get to. Eventually. That whole 'asking for patience' thing? I don't ask anymore, because God is giving me too many opportunities to practice.

Long story short, I decided to keep making foods that are warm and comforting. Might as well hold on as long as we can, right? While continuing my Grilled Cheese Month celebrating, I added some soup. I see people doing this all the time and couldn't resist trying it myself. I mean, why wouldn't I? Grilled cheese croutons? Uh, yes. Don't mind that their pictures all look much more professional, etc. I won't take it personally.

So I made my favorite homemade tomato soup (and will be eating it for the next two weeks, unless I freeze some - it makes a lot) and added some basic grilled cheese croutons. It's easy, it's pretty and it's so dang good. See how the croutons are soaking up the soup in the picture above? Mmhmm. Make some.

Grilled Cheese: Celebrate!

It's not only National Grilled Cheese month, but today marks National Grilled Cheese day as well. I mean come on - how can you not have a grilled cheese sandwich today. It would be a down right sin to just ignore it. So please - do yourself a favor.

Need some tips? Here are some ideas that work well for me:

1. Use good bread and pair it with the cheese/theme you're creating

Sweet sandwich? Sweet bread (cinnamon raisin, for example) French bread works awesome

2. Use a good melting cheese

American, Swiss, Brie, Gouda, Mozzarella, Muenster, Colby, Les Frères, Blue (sometimes)

3. Butter the pan, not the bread

You'll use less butter and it will cover the entire sandwich. Yes, mayo can work too - but then you'll want to spread it on the bread first.

4. Use medium heat and don't be afraid to use the oven

Sometimes your cheese hasn't melted all the way through once the outside is nice and crisp - that's ok! Toss it in the oven at 300* for a few minutes. That'll take care of it. You can also use a stainless steel bowl to cover your sandwich while it's grilling - just be sure to use pot holders to pick it up.
I like to use a cast-iron pan, personally - but any type of frying pan will do.

5. Be creative!

Anything goes. Peanut butter, pickles, bacon - you name it. It can be put in grilled cheese.

For this particular grilled cheese, I used French bread and Jeffs' Select Gouda from Caves of Faribault.

Cheesy Mushroom Grilled Cheese

National Grilled Cheese month continues. Are you as excited as I am? I keep finding all of these mushroom grilled cheese sandwiches on Pinterest, but never read the actual recipe. I created this one on a whim the other day and made my house smell sort of like a diner. Thank goodness for exhaust fans.

The sauce is similar to how you would start making homemade gravy - if you ever do that. It's butter, flour and cream, salt and pepper and in this case, with a bunch of cheese added in. This is how I start my mac 'n cheese sauces too. I added in a couple slices of muenster cheese and some shredded Parmesan. Set aside.

I then sauteed some mushrooms in butter and finished it with a little red wine. Yeah, I took a sip of the wine. Add the mushrooms to the white sauce, spread over some good bread and fry it up like any good grilled cheese sandwich. It's warm, it's hearty and it's gooey. You're welcome?

Yeah. I Went There.

Hey - guess what? It's National Grilled Cheese month. Maybe one of my favorite food-entitled months of the year. Because really, who can resist a grilled cheese sandwich? Even if it's simply the traditional American cheese slices between two white pieces of bread. The gooey-ness. It's irresistible.

Well - I've maybe crossed the line, but it's also Peanut Butter & Jelly day. 

'Thank you' to whoever created these two, very special occasions in one month.

You can use your favorite 'sweet-friendly' cheese, but I had a small piece of  Minnesota made, Camembert-style Bent River that I knew would be perfect for this ingenious concoction. [what else could you use? blue cheese, mascarpone, gouda, etc]

Simply layer your favorite peanut butter, jelly and cheese and grill until crisp. [I used smooth peanut butter and strawberry preserves]

Take a big bite...

...and chug a glass of milk,

because you  may have created one of your new favorite grilled peanut butter and cheese sandwiches. Until the next creation...

The Perfect Dessert

Sharing this recipe is long past due. I've gotten multiple requests for my winning grilled cheese sandwich recipe from the 1st Annual Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Contest that happened back in April. While the picture above is not the exact winning sandwich, it's pretty darn close. The winning recipe used an apple drizzle that I had bought while living in Vermont. Since I did so many practice rounds for the contest, I ran out of drizzle for my photo shoot. So I decided to use a local spread the second time around. This one is a fig and black tea preserve from a maker in Madison, WI. It's heavenly.

Figgy Pudding Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:

4 slices cinnamon-raisin bread
4 slices Les Frères or 2 Petit Frère, caps removed and sliced
8 Tablespoons fig and black tea preserve, or your favorite fruit spread (apple is perferred)
Powdered sugar, for garnish

Directions:

Pre-heat fry pan to medium heat.

Lather two slices of cinnamon-raisin bread with fruit spread. Place two slices of cheese on top of the jam and finish with the second piece of bread, jam facing inward. Repeat for second sandwich.

Carefully butter the fry pan only where you will be placing the sandwiches. Place each sandwich down onto the pan. Cover with a lid (this helps the cheese melt faster).

Once the first side is browned and crisp, carefully flip the sandwiches over with a spatula and brown the second side. Re-cover with a lid.

When both sides are crispy and hot - take sandwiches off of the heat, slice in half, dust some powdered sugar on top and serve with a big cold glass of milk.

The Potato Salad Grilled Cheese

American cheesed grilled cheese doesn't exist in my kitchen. In fact, I'm not sure that we've ever had the same grilled cheese sandwich. That is, until I decided to enter in the Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship. I may have made the same sandwich on at least four different occasions. I had to make sure I had the timing down as I only had 15 minutes during the competition. And, well, they were really tasty.

I will post about my dessert grilled cheese later on, as it was the Best of Show and simply sinful. You'll find out why at a later time. I didn't place in the competition with the Potato Salad Grilled Cheese. My reasoning is that the cheese didn't melt all the way through for the judges. It was very difficult to get all of the cheese to melt because we couldn't use a cover over the frying pan. That was my trick! We had to improvise.

I was inspired to make a potato salad grilled cheese sandwich during work one day. We were making a potato salad with bacon, pesto, mascarpone and some other elements. What intrigued me the most was the pesto. Pesto adds such great flavors and minimizes chopping up all sorts of fresh herbs, if you're in a hurry. I used a store-bought pesto, but if you want to make your own version, please do. The potato comes from the bread. I love potato bread - it's dense and moist with a little bit of sweetness. The texture of the dill pickle is what really sets this sandwich apart. Who can deny a juicy, crisp pickle? Not this girl.

Salivating yet? Sorry, here's the recipe:

Potato Salad Grilled Cheese

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 4 slices potato bread
• 2-4 tablespoons basil pesto
• 4 slices tomato-basil Farmers cheese
• 4 slices Provolone cheese, plus a few slices for garnish
• 4 dill pickle slices
• 2-4 slices bacon, cooked
• 2 cherry tomatoes, garnish

Directions:

Pre-heat fry pan to medium heat.

Lather two slices of potato bread with basil pesto. Place two slices of Farmers cheese on top of the pesto followed by the bacon, pickle and Provolone cheese. Finish with the second piece of bread. Repeat for second sandwich.

Carefully butter the fry pan only where you will be placing the sandwiches. Place each sandwich down onto the pan. Cover with a lid (this helps the cheese melt faster).

Once the first side is browned and crisp, carefully flip the sandwiches over with a spatula and brown the second side. Re-cover with a lid.

When both sides are crispy and hot - take sandwiches off of the heat, slice in half, top with a speared cherry tomato and curled up piece of cheese. Serve with a big cold glass of milk.