Figgy Piggy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

So I take most of my blog pictures in the front of our townhouse because I can spread out a bit there, I get natural lighting, and there is a granite ledge is a pretty neutral background for my photos, as opposed to our deck or wooden patio table. But that can lead to some weird situations when my neighbors walk by. For the most part they just ignore me or laugh at me when I bring out food, get set up on the walkway or granite ledge and begin to take picture while basically laying on the ledge.

Sometimes I get questions about what I am doing and what I’ve made (so I share when I can), which happened in the case of these sandwiches.

Some people had just moved in across the street so they were a little bit curious about what I was doing, whereas my other neighbors are used to my ledge laying and picture-taking, so they came over to find out what I was doing. And I’m not talking 2 people came over, like 6 of them. Yep, I had 6 people drooling over these grilled cheese sandwiches as I answered questions as to why I was taking pictures to them and what exactly I had made. The conversation slowly took a new spin though, like ‘oh, so you’re not a chef… but you create food… so do you have people test this food?’ I explained that sometimes I do, but in this case the grilled cheese was for our dinner. They were utterly deflated as they realized they would not be taste testing. ha!

They will just have to make their own!!

I need more grilled cheese in my life.

While we are trying to go more paleo, I really need to fit more grilled cheese sandwiches in. At least, if I use Kerrygold cheese and butters I’d be using and enjoying a great quality product. All of their products are made from grass-fed cows which makes them taste to good. I figure I can use the quality over the quantity approach in this case.

That right there is the start of something good. Really good.

I specifically used Kerrygold’s Dubliner cheese to create this grilled cheese as it is a robust aged cow’s milk cheese that has a deverse falvor notes that range from nutty to sharp to sweet. The flavors are directly related to it being made of milk from their grass-fed cows. As the flavors are so pronounced, they can handle standing up to the fig and prosciutto that I was adding to the grilled cheese.

Dubliner has a hard texture similar to a Cheddar, so if you can’t find Kerrygold then get a good quality of cheddar. But I do strongly suggest that you locate Kerrygold’s Dubliner. So good!

 

I normally put mayo on the outside of the bread when I make grilled cheese. (It is worth a try if you havent done it!) But I wanted to change things and use butter since I had Kerrygold’s Salted Butter. Kerrygold butter tastes and looks so good because their cows are grass fed. That is why it’s that nice bright color.

Don’t be stingy with the fig jam. It has to stand up to the salty prosciutto and the strong cheese. You definently want to taste the sweetness when you bite into the grilled cheese.

I really don’t buy prosciutto as often as I should. Sure, it is pricey but you don’t need much to pack a punch to a dish. I spent $4.95 on this package of prosciutto which for 4 sandwiches isn’t too bad considering how much flavor it adds to it.

Be careful not to burn the bread!! I admit that I can get easily distracted so I often will burn my grilled cheese and that is THE WORST.

To melt the cheese without burning the bread it’s best to keep the heat low and to cover the skillet. In my case I needed to be creative since I didn’t have a lid large enough. ha!

I swear this is one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had. In fact, just looking at these photos again reminds me of this grilled cheese and how I need to make this again. Pronto.

Plus it’s National Cheese Month you basically you gotta. ;-P

Figgy Piggy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Makes 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 8 slices of Italian bread, sliced 1/2″ thick (I used slices that were 3″ x 5″)
• approximately 5 ounces of Kerrygold Butter, softened to room temperature
• 4 Tablespoons Fig Jam
• 8 ounces of Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese
• 4 ounces of prosciutto (8 slices)

Process

1. Lay out the 8 slices of Italian Bread on your work surface in 2 rows to pair of the 4 sandwiches.
2. Very lightly butter each side of the slices.
3. Put a thin coat of fig jam  on the ‘inside’ side of all of the slices.
4. Place 1 slice of the prosciutto on top of the fig onto 4 slices of bread.
5. Slice the block of cheese into very thin slices. Divide the cheese into 4 equal portions and place onto 4 slice of bread.
6. Place the remaining slices on top of the cheese and top of the 4 slices of bread.
7. In a large skillet over medium low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Place the sandwiches in the skillet. Be very careful that the heat is not too hot as you want to slowly brown the bread.
8. When the one side is golden brown, very carefully flip the sandwiches. After 2 minutes, cover the skillet and continue cooking, flip as needed, until the cheese is melted and the bread has achieved desired doneness. (My sandwiches took about 9-10 minutes total to cook.)

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I received the complimentary Kerrygold products as I am part of their Kerrygold Blogger Network. All opinions are my own. I only like good grilled cheese sandwiches & had to share.