Crying Onions

Apples and cheese are a classic combination, but you haven’t truly experienced it until you’ve eaten this sandwich. The melted, smoky-yet-salty cheese. The sweet, warm-but-still-crisp apples. All between two slices of hearty bread and fresh off the pan with beautiful, golden-brown grill marks. It fills a void in your life that you never knew you had.

This sandwich is simple and rustic, but it’s also elegant and unique. Smoked gouda isn’t an average cheese. Unlike standard Cheddars and pre-sliced American cheese, smoked gouda is subtle and nuanced. Melting it highlights every intricacy and allows them to shine.

Not to mention the apples. You don’t need Fuji apples, but make sure to use something crisp, because the sandwich relies heavily on the variety of textures you get when you bite into it. First, you have the crunchy grilled outside, followed by the chewy inside of the bread. Then the oozing, melted cheese. Fresh, crisp apples play beautifully against these textures, leaving you to enjoy the contrasts bite after bite.

Recipe courtesy of Sarah Freeman at Bearfoot Farm

Makes 1 delicious, filling sandwich

What you need:

• 2 slices hearty bread (whole wheat and oatmeal are my favorites)
• 4 oz smoked gouda, sliced into small pieces
• 1/3 Fuji apple, sliced into half moons
• cinnamon
• butter

What to do:

1. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Lay out about 2/3 of the cheese on one of the slices.
2. Top the cheese with the apples and sprinkle with cinnamon.
3. Top with the rest of the cheese and the second slice of bread.
4. Butter the outside, and grill on a grill pan or skillet over low-medium heat until the cheese is melted, flipping once to brown both sides.

Tags: cheese, fruit, vegetarian

Posted September 16th, 2009 at 6:18 pm. Categories: sandwiches. Leave a comment or trackback from your own site.