Honey Apple Cheddar Melt

Grilled cheese sandwiches are one of the greatest comfort foods in my life.  Maybe it's because melted cheese is probably good enough to be a food group on its own.  (I actually have a friend who doesn't like cheese.  That's right.  Doesn't like cheese.  I can't decide if I feel sorry for her or if I feel the way my father used to feel when we told him we didn't like turnip greens and he responded with "Good!  More for me!"  But I digress.)  Maybe it's the greatest comfort food because it's one of the first things my mother would let me make by myself.  I have such good memories of being in the kitchen with her.  And I felt so grown up when she let me do something by myself!

Whatever the reason, a grilled cheese sandwich can, in fact, turn any terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day into the best.  (Alexander clearly should have eaten a grilled cheese sandwich that day).  I mean, really.  Look at this thing!

For some reason, last week out of the blue I decided I would make a grilled cheese with an apple on it.  Something about an apple combined with savory melted cheese just sounded unbearably delicious.  I go to my local farmers' market every weekend and my favorite part of my Saturday is sampling and buying my cheese for the week.  Nashvillians, if you haven't tried Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese you are doing yourself a serious disservice.  This local cheese-maker sells raw cheese, and not only do they have at least 25 cheeses to choose from (everything from tomato basil cheddar to cranberry havarti) but their personnel are beyond friendly.  And knowledgeable.  I blame them for making my cheese outing to the farmers' market one of my favorite parts of my week!  So do yourself a favor and buy some Kenny's cheese today.  (You don't even have to go to the farmers' market because Whole Foods and Produce Place, among other vendors, sell it).  And then make this sandwich.

Because after I randomly decided I wanted to make a grilled cheese sandwich with apple on it, I happened upon this recipe, which calls for cooking the apple before putting it on the sandwich.  That way the cold apple doesn't cool off the melted cheese.  Genius.  Cooking the apples adds about five minutes to the process of making a grilled cheese sandwich.  But it's well worth it.  I promise.

The day I made this sandwich the husband and I hadn't been home all day so when we got home at 3:00 we were both pretty hungry.  I decided to make the honey apple grilled cheese but the husband decided he was too hungry to wait the extra 5 minutes for the apples to cook.  Kinda like my friend who doens't like cheese, part of me felt sorry for him.  But more than anything, I just thought "good! More for me!"

Ingredients

1/2 tablespoon grapeseed oil

1 tablespoon honey

A few shakes of cinnamon
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced thinly

4 - 6 slices of good sharp cheddar cheese  (I used Kenny's aged white cheddar)
4 slices of whole grain bread

butter

Directions

Heat the oil in a skilled.  Add the honey and stir until melted.  Add the apple slices and saute, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle cinnamon on the apples and stir. 

Assemble the sandwich putting a layer of cheese and a layer of apples in between two slices of buttered bread.  

Cook on medium heat until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.  Cut (in triangles, because we all know triangle sandwiches are better than rectangles) and serve hot.

Printable Recipe

(Recipe adapted from www.closetcooking.com)

Pin It