“YAS QUEEN” Grilled Cheese

So yesterday’s Dining Guide got me feelin’ some type of way about my plans for the future. I really love science and am actively looking for a full–time job in biotech (HMU if you know people, srsly), but I also really love to cook and eat food. I think about Ina Garten’s (the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network) life story a lot; she worked in the White House as a nuclear energy policy analyst before opening a specialty food store and becoming the (trap) queen of easy breezy entertaining in the Hamptons. Like why can’t that be my life?! Then I realize that it totally can be! Nothing’s set in stone, so I’ll just go with the flow, work hard and see what comes my way. That being said, if I were to open an eating establishment in the future, this recipe would definitely be on the menu with exactly the same name. This sandwich is a crazy blend of salty, creamy, sweet, savory and, of course, cheesy. Remember when SpongeBob put jelly on that rando’s Krabby Patty, and he was so moved that he sang a whole song about how delicious it was? You might react the same way with this recipe. Fair warning!

Ingredients (makes 1 very filling sandwich; $5.58/sandwich):

3 slices of bread ($1.99/loaf at FroGro)

3 oz of cheddar cheese, grated or sliced ($2.99/8-oz bag or brick at FroGro)

3 oz of Brie ($11.99/lb from FroGro; pricey, I know, but you only need a little bit!)

1 Roma tomato, sliced ($1.49/lb at FroGro)

3 slices of bacon or pancetta, cooked ($5.29/lb at FroGro)

½ of a red onion, sliced ($1.49/lb at FroGro)

1 egg ($2.69/dozen at FroGro)

2 tablespoons of butter ($2.99/2-stick box at FroGro)

Procedure (20-25 minutes):

  1. Cook the bacon as desired, but the crispier the better!
  2. Caramelize the onion by cooking in a pan on medium-high heat with ½ a tablespoon of butter for 5 minutes, and turning down the heat to low for 10 minutes. Set the bacon and caramelized onions aside.
  3. Heat a pan with half a tablespoon of butter over medium heat until melted.
  4. Cut a large circle out of one of the slices of bread, place it in the pan and crack the egg in the center, like you’re making egg–in–a–hole. Cook until the egg is set, about 5 minutes. Remove the egg–in–a–hole from the pan and set aside.
  5. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan over medium heat, and assemble the rest of the sandwich as follows: bottom slice of bread, cheddar cheese, tomato slices, bacon, egg–in–a–hole, caramelized onions, Brie, top slice of bread.
  6. Add the sandwich to the pan and cook on each side until the cheese is melted, about 3-4 minutes per side.
  7. Remove from the pan, cut the sandwich in half to see that glorious runny yolk and serve immediately.

Tips and Tricks:

There’s a lot of substitution you can do here to really make this grilled cheese your own! You can use any types of cheese, any type of bread and add any veggies you want. To make this vegetarian, replace the bacon with some smoked gouda cheese (because more cheese is never a bad thing!) to retain the smoky flavor the bacon lends to this sandwich. Also, cheese always melts better when it’s at room temp, so if you remember to take it out of the fridge for a while before you start cooking, great! If not, don’t fret because I genuinely have never remembered to do that. A lot of sandwiches claim to be the king of all grilled cheeses, but as Nicki Minaj once said, you can be the king, but watch the queen conquer!

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