Grilled Ham & Swiss Cheese Sandwich with Honey and Djon Mustard

One of my favorite things in life is cheese.  It makes absolutely everything you add it to 10 times better, be it sandwiches, salads, pasta dishes or even pancakes, believe it or not.  I tend to gravitate towards recipes with cheese in them and if cheese isn't in a recipe, I will even typically add it.  It should come as no surprise that one of my favorite sandwiches is grilled cheese.  It is definitely a comfort food for me, one I have been eating and enjoying since childhood.  It is also a great sandwich to experiment with, adding different cheeses, meats or sauces.  You really can't go wrong with it, unless you let it burn.  Don't do this as there is nothing worse then a burnt grilled cheese sandwich, lol!

The grilled ham & swiss cheese sandwich was one I can remember seeing on Emeril a while back.  At the time I watched the episode, adding honey to a grilled cheese sandwich sounded kind of strange to me so I tucked the recipe neatly in my brain somewhere safe and proceeded to forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago when I was getting ready to make a grilled ham and swiss sandwich and happened to see some honey sitting on the counter.  Emeril's recipe came flooding back to me and  I thought I would go ahead and give it a whirl.  Thank goodness I did.  Trust me, you will want to make this one.  It is super yummy.  The tangyness of the djon mustard with the sweetness of the honey makes for a perfect flavor combination.   My husband and I enjoyed it so much, I've made it 4 different times over the past two weeks. 

Grilled Ham & Swiss Cheese Sandwich with Honey and Djon Mustard - recipe adapted from Emeril

Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches):
4 slices of bread
6 slices of deli sliced ham
2 slices of swiss cheese
butter, spreadable
honey
djon mustard

Directions:
1.  Spread butter evenly all over one side of each bread slice.  (This part does get a bit messy, but remember, it's worth it)
2.  On the other side of the buttered bread, spread with honey on two slices and djon mustard on the other two slices. 
3.  Sandwich three slices of ham and 1 slice of swiss between the honey and djon side of your bread slices.  Keeping the butter side on the top and bottom.
4.  Fry the sandwhich in a skillet under medium heat, about 5 minutes per side, until golden brown.  Serve warm.

Celebrating National Grilled Cheese Month

It is most likely no surprise that I am a  lover of the grilled cheese sandwhich. I probably have it for lunch or dinner, once a week and I always make it the same way.  Bread, slice of cheddar, shredded italian cheese and lots of butter!  The shredded cheese can be a bit messy during the flip portion of the cooking process but I don't care because I have found it to be just so darn good this way and once you find the perfect combination of cheeses for your sandwhich, it becomes really hard to change it at all.  However, since April is National Grilled Cheese month, I thought it would be fitting to celebrate this tried and true sandwhich by changing it up just a bit. I did some digging around, searching for something to pep up my standard grilled cheese sandwich, and found many many different variations but one in particular intrigued me.  For some reason I seem to be really drawn to the sweet and salty flavor combinations lately.

Apple & Bacon Grilled Cheese modified from a Tyler Florence recipe found on Food Network

Ingredients:
2 slices of bread (I used Orowheat Oatnut, but use whatever bread you prefer)
1 slice Cheddar Cheese
Shredded Italian blend cheese, a good handful will do wonders!
2 slices of bacon, cooked
Thin slices of a Granny Smith Apple
Butter
Dijon Mustard

Directions:
1. Butter the bottom of each slice of bread. 
2. Spread one slice with dijon mustard, add slice of chedder, bacon, handful of shredded italian blend cheese and bacon and cover with the second slice of  buttered bread. 
3.  Place the sandwhich on a skillet, set to medium high heat.  I allow mine to cook about four or five minutes then flip and cook an additional four or five minutes.  I like mine nice and golden brown color.
4.  Cut sandwhich in half and enjoy! 

After painting our countertops last week, we got the painting bug and decided to paint the entire kitchen.  I decided two things: 1. I really hate painting and 2. I love my fresh "new"& improved kitchen, so it was well worth all the horrible, wretched work!