Fancy-pants grilled cheese

So, I have some wonderful news to share! I recently accepted a job as the digital editor for a magazine called The Cooking Club. I am definitely sad to leave my job at the Strib but this is an amazing opportunity for me to combine my passions: digital journalism and cooking. Can't wait to get started, more details to come.


Now on to the food... 

Jake and I have been meaning to get to our neighborhood bar for their fancy grilled cheese and veggies sandwiches for a while now. The place is a little pricey, and we tend to frequent it for brunch, so a few weeks ago, we decided to have date night in and try to figure them out ourselves.



I started by slicing up a red bell pepper, drizzling with a 1/2 tsp olive oil and some salt in one giant ramekin and slicing a red onion with a little red wine vinegar in the other. I roasted at 450 for about 30 minutes while I got the other stuff ready. I also broiled for 3-5 minutes to finish them.

We put our double cast irons to work to toast the buns we bought. I brushed them with truffle oil on each side before grilling.




We used four kinds of cheese: Brie (spread on the bottom), smoked gouda, mozzarella, and fontina. I also sauteed some portobello mushrooms in a little red wine and black pepper. We grilled them with just the cheese, covered for a few minutes to get the cheese melting, then piled on the toppings.


 
The finished product. I used the heated top cast iron again to press down and heat the sandwiches from both sides.  We plated over baby arugula (which we both ended up stuffing into the sandwiches anyway) and a drizzle of truffle oil and salt.

Let's lunch! Grilled Cheese edition

So last week I received a bit of a shock when the aforementioned Cheryl Tan tweeted me the following:

@emmacarew No problem! Love your blog. Say, wld you like to join my #letslunch group? We post lunch once a mth. Doing grilled cheese this wkless than a minute ago via webCheryl Tan
cheryltan88

I had seen her #letslunch tweets previously -- she and a group of farflung lunch enthusiasts all make the same thing for lunch then blog about it. And she invited ME to join this illustrious group.

So, here we are, Friday the 15th and I was not only thrilled to join, but couldn't be happier to start with one of my very favorite sandwiches: grilled cheese.

I don't normally like to mess with the classics, so this was a fairly straight forward take on grilled cheese.

I used 9-grain bread from Great Harvest -- left over from my trip to Des Moines. Smoked gouda and provolone cheeses, and finished with a brush of truffle oil -- a little tip I've been a fan over ever since the pilot episode of Gossip Girl.

Were I to do this again, I would have taken the time to shred the gouda. It took a long time to melt in these little slices.

I always start the bread in melted butter (both sides). Brushing with truffle oil gives it a nice nutty, dark flavor, and also some nice extra crunch.

Ok, guilty admission time:I planned a potluck at work today, so this was actually my breakfast this morning. BUT -- I maintain it was probably lunchtime *somewhere* out there.

I can't wait to see what the others post for their #letslunch. I'll update with links out to them as I find them.

**updated:
Cheryl Tan, in New York: Cheddar and blue cheese with Asian pears and rosemary honey
Linda, in St Louis: oven baked grilled cheese
Chris Perrin, I think in Kansas: 2 options, grilled cheese with black forest ham and pickles AND buffalo chicken grilled cheese
Cathy Shambley, in California: breadless grilled halloumi with bacon and apples 
Danielle, in the Bay Area: open face "mousetrap" sandwiches
Ellise Pierce, in France: grilled brie, pear and prosciutto