Grilled Cheese for Grown Ups

I love a good grilled cheese sandwich. There's nothing like a hot grilled cheese made with Velveeta, dunked into tomato soup. It's gooey, and delicious, and reminds me of my childhood.

But who says grilled cheese sandwiches have to be childish? Can't there be a grown-up, sophisticated version?

Heck ya!

The other night, Chris was off playing softball, so I was left to my own devices in the kitchen. I was searching through the fridge for something simple to make for one, and as I saw the bread... the brie... an idea popped into my head!

Grilled Brie & Fig Jam Grilled Cheese

I'll pause a moment and wait to let that sink in.

Good?

Ok, here we go!

Start with some really good, fresh bread. Don't use the Wonderbread for this baby.



Slice it into two pieces, not too thick, but definitely not too thin.



Next, butter one side of each slice. While you're doing this, start heating up a nonstick pan on the stove.



Once the pan is quite hot, put the bread in butter side down. Now turn the heat down to medium.



Let it sit there until you are happy with the browning. I prefer a little char on mine, but if you prefer it a little less toasty, by all means!



Now, grab your brie and fig jam.



On the non-buttered, non-browned side, spread the fig jam on one slice, and place the brie on the other.



Ok... so three slices of the brie would've been just fine, but I had already cut four, so I just threw it all on there. A little extra cheese never hurt anybody! (Don't tell your cardiologists I said that.)

Next, we want to broil the slices. I use a toaster oven for this, but if you don't have a toaster oven, the regular oven will work just fine.



Now carefully monitor your sandwich. You'll notice the fig jam will start to make big bubbles as the sugar starts to heat and boil. You may need to pull the fig jam slice out first if it looks caramelized enough.



Doesn't that look good? What you can't see in this picture is that the fig jam has actually sort of candied itself, and is now almost a crunchy sweet fruit candy layer on my bread.

Then, once the brie starts to brown on the edges (or when you just don't have the patience to wait any longer...) pull the other slice out.



Finally, put them together, and you've got yourself a killer grilled cheese sandwich!



Sure, the Velveeta-Wonderbread grilled cheese will always have a place in my heart, but from now on, this sandwich will have a place reserved in my stomach.