Ingredients
12 slices thick-cut bacon, such as Nodine’s applewood smoked
1 cup good mayonnaise
¼ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 white pullman loaf or sourdough bread, sliced ½ inch thick (12 slices)
6 tablespoon salted butter, at room temperature
6 oz aged Gruyere or Comte cheese
6 oz extra-sharp Cheddar, such as Cabot or Shelburne Farms
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the bacon on a baking rack set over a sheet pan in a single layer and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until nicely browned. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels and cut in 1-inch pieces.
Meanwhile, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Lay 12 slices of bread on a board and spread each one lightly with butter. Flip the slices and spread each one generously with the mayonnaise mixture. Don’t neglect the corners!
Grate the cheeses in a food processor fitted with the largest grating disk and combine. Distribute the bacon evenly on half the slices of bread. Pile ⅓ cup grated cheese evenly on top of the bacon and top with the remaining bread slices, sauce side down.
Heat an electric panini press. When the press is hot, cook the sandwiches for 3 to 5 minutes in batches until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. Allow to cool for 2 minutes. Cut in half and serve warm.
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Ina always seems to amaze me with her recipes. This last week, I had a dream about her. I had one of my very own recipes in her latest cook book with my name in it, and I even got to meet her! How cool would that be? I've been wanting to make this new grilled cheese of her's in her latest cookbook called How Easy is that? That is on my Christmas list. So, maybe that is why I had that dream about her then.... 😉
Fargo doesn't have really any specialty cheese stores, so we are stuck with what we can find at the grocery stores. Ben and I went to Sam's club one weekend and I love looking at their cheese section now. They had gruyere cheese for ½ the price per pound and the grocery store wanted a lot more. Now I can afford gruyere cheese and that makes me a very happy camper.
I know Ina probably wouldn't be too happy where I got the bread though. I found some discounted Sour Dough bread for only 1.50 at Wal-Mart. Oh no!!!! The horror. 🙂 The leftover bread will be used to make french toast. I love some good crusty old bread when making sandwiches. No cheap slices of white bread for sandwiches, you need some good thick bread.
We already had some bacon in the house and Ben had some leftover 6 year aged sharp cheddar cheese and I used that. At first, he said I couldn't use it so I tried sneaking it into my sandwich. He was outside making a head board for he tbedroom. Thought I could try cutting a couple of slices but he walked in on me doing that. He finally said I could use some of it though, he's such a nice guy.
Any sandwich with bacon is probably going to be the Ultimate. A good sandwich also needs crusty bread and good cheese. You won't be disappointed when eating this either, so I suggest you go and try this now. 🙂
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