Aged Gouda and Apple Grilled Cheese

My wonderful friends at The Cheese Store of San Diego hooked me up with some awesome aged Duda Gouda! Marci, one of the owners of TCSSD says “…if a Pecorino & Gouda had a baby…this would be it! Its from Wisconsin made by Hooks Cheese Co. and its flavors are sweet & nutty with hints of caramel and grass! Its so good! Melts pretty good too!”

Today is the first day of The Cheese Store of San Diego’s Kickstarter campaign for their brick and mortar store! They’ll have wine, beer, cheese boards galore and all kinds of goodies (maybe even a couple provided by me! stay tuned!). Watch this:

I urge you to support local businesses! Click here for more information on their Kickstarter campaign!

The first things that came to mind when she told me about the characteristics of the cheese were bright, crisp and slightly sour green apples and caramelized onions. I thought the acidity in the apples would cut the richness of the cheese, and the caramelized onions would play off of the caramel and nutty flavors in the Duda gouda.

I was totes. right.

This really isn’t a recipe where things need to be measured. It’s a grilled cheese. A super awesome grilled cheese. Have you ever measured things for a grilled cheese? Nope, not never.

aged gouda and apple grilled cheese sandwich on fmitk.com

You’ll need caramelized onions (recipe here), dijon mustard, 1/2″ slices of your favorite bread (I’m using Bread & Cie’s fig and anise loaf), aged Duda gouda and an apple. Not pictured: butter. You mos def need butter.

You’ll need about 1/4lb of aged gouda. That’s enough for two sandwiches + snacking while the sandwich is cooking.

Thinly slice 1/2 of an apple. Eat the other half with any leftover cheese you may have.

Butter two slices of bread and set them aside.

Add a thin schmear of dijon mustard on the other two slices of bread. You don’t need much.

Place the bread with the mustard in a pan with melted butter, mustard side up, over medium heat.

Top both pieces of bread with caramelized onions. Maybe a tablespoon? It’s up to you. Don’t go too heavy or it will overpower the cheese.

Add 4-5 slices of apple on top of the onions.

Add the grated gouda on top of the apples.

Don’t worry about the cheese spilling over the sides of the bread – in fact, you WANT some of the cheese in the skillet. That’s where the magic happens, actually. Just scoot any cheese that lands in the skillet toward the bread.

Top with the buttered slices of bread – butter side up.

At this point, you want to walk away for a couple minutes to let the bread get nice and toasty. This is the time where you snack on whatever apple and cheese is left so you’re not tempted to futz with the sandwich.

Flip once the bread has browned nicely, about 4-5 minutes.

Remember that cheese that fell into the pan? Now it’s burnty cheese deliciousness. Burnty cheese bits on bread is like, in my top 10 favorite things EVOOR.
Magic.

Once the other side is browned and the cheese is nice and melty, you’re done.

Cut the sandwiches on a bias. Because sandwiches always taste better when cut in half diagonally.

mmmm. And look at those delicious figs in the bread! So good.

I ate this with some veggie chips. It would also go great with a light arugula or spinach salad.

I realized about 3 bites in that this dish was unintentionally vegetarian. My, my… how times have changed… *pats self on back, wonders why she didn’t add bacon*

makes 2 sandwiches in about 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 slices of bread, about 1/2″ slices
~1/4 lb of aged gouda, coarsely grated
1/4 cup caramelized onions* (see note below)
1/2 green apple, thinly sliced (I like Granny Smith)
dijon mustard
butter

Directions

Butter two slices of bread and set them aside. Spread a thin layer of dijon mustard on the other two slices.

In a large skillet, melt about 1-2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Place the bread with the dijon mustard in the skillet, mustard side up. Top each slice with caramelized onions (1-2 tbsp), 4-5 slices of apple and the cheese. It’s okay if some of the cheese spills off of the sandwich and into the pan – in fact, it’s preferred. Just nudge that melted cheese at the bottom of the skillet toward the bread. Top with the remaining two slices of bread, butter side up.

After 4-5 minutes, flip. Let the other side brown for an additional 4-5 minutes, until bread is toasty and cheese is melty. Cut on the bias and enjoy! Pair it with some veggie chips or a salad.

Notes

The recipe for the caramelized onions makes way more than you need for these sandwiches. You can either cut the recipe in half or make the full recipe and throw them on anything.