Yummy Grilled Cheese

It's about time we posted a recipe on this food blog!

Yesterday I auditioned to teach an ACT class for Kaplan. We had to prepare a 5 minute presentation on some non-academic topic--I chose to present on how to make the best grilled cheese sandwich in the entire world! (Thanks Tyler Florence for letting me use your recipe)

So, I figured I would just put my notes on the presentation on here. You can imagine me at the front of a classroom explaining how to make it, if you would like.

Ingredients:
*8 slices country style white bread
*12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
*3 tablespoons unsalted butter
*12 slices of bacon
*1 green apple


My name is Stephanie, and today I want to go over how to make the best grilled cheese in the entire world!

So, imagine this scene. It's, say, Wednesday night. You are just sitting at home, all alone, and you have nothing to do. You're just sitting watching TV, and all of the sudden your stomach starts rumbling! You're so hungry! So you walk into your kitchen, flip on the light, and look in the fridge. What do you see? There's nothing to eat! You are in the mood for something warm, crunchy, tasty and satisfying, but there is nothing in your fridge, heck-nothing in your kitchen that could possibly satisfy you, right?

(This is the audience participation part of the presentation, just so you know...)
-How many have you have ever eaten a grilled cheese sandwich?

-How many of you would say that grilled cheese is your favorite food? (I didn't expect anyone to raise their hand for this part...)

*Okay, that's because you haven't tried this grilled cheese sandwich!

When making this sandwich, there are 3 Steps that you need to keep in mind:
(write on the board)

1. Preparation
2. Cooking
3. Serving

1. Preparation:
-The things that you will need to make this delicious, delectable dinner are all in your kitchen: bread, mustard, cheese, bacon, apples
*In a pan, fry the bacon over medium-high heat (if you want to be healthy you can cook the bacon on a rack in the oven, but this way is much faster. Plus, bacon wasn't meant to be healthy, right?)
*Cut your apple into thin slices—you want the slices to be thin enough that they are not bulky on the sandwich, but thick enough that you can still get a nice crunch from them
*butter one side of each of your bread slices
*put your pan on the stove, and turn the burner on medium high heat

2. Cooking:
*Place the bread, buttered side down, on the pan. Then squirt a little mustard on it, followed by a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. After this, you'll want to place a layer of bacon, followed by a layer of apples. Then you will want to place another slice of cheese over this.
*This second slice of cheese is very important because it helps to seal all of the layers together, and bind the second slice of bread to the rest of the sandwich. Then cover all of this with a second slice of bread, buttered side up.
*Now, this next part of the cooking step is key! You will need something flat and heavy—if you don't have a panini press, you can use a second, smaller pan. Once you flip your sandwich over, you will want to put that second pan on top of your sandwich, and then put a can of soup or something on top of the pan. This step smooshes (and that is a technical term—you can use it!) all of the layers together, and helps to crunch the crust of the bread. It also pushes some of the cheese outside of the sandwich and down the crust, so that it will fry on the pan and get a nice, crunchy, toasted flavor.
*Watch your sandwich carefully, so that you can get the bread a nice golden brown color on both sides.
*After you have cooked both sides, take the sandwich out of pan.

3. Presentation:
*You may think that this step isn't important, but a good presentation can really help amp up the taste factor—especially if you are making this grilled cheese for you and someone else!
*Cut the sandwich at a 45 degree angle (draw on the board), right through the corners. Then put one sandwich slice flat down, and angle the other slice so that it is on top of the first slice. Then you can put a small bowl of soup or a couple of chips down on the blank space on the plate.

And voila! You have a delicious, tasty dinner in under 20 minutes that will be fully satisfying! I hope you will go out and try the tastiest grilled cheese in the entire world!