CHICKEN, BACON AND CARAMELIZED ONION GRILLED CHEESE
Saturday, September 4th is international Bacon day according to the internet. I actually love that specific foods have international days to “celebrate” them. I don’t really know why I find it so fascinating though, but I do. Anyways, perfect for inspiration when you are so out of it. I believe you can add bacon to almost anything, but we’d only have it on father’s day and my dad’s birthday. Bacon goes well in salads, sandwiches, even on desserts. This chicken, bacon and caramelized onion grilled cheese is just so delicious. Add some dijon mustard, swiss cheese and big amounts of butter to that and you won’t be able to stop eating.
The grilled cheese sandwich is a classic american recipe. The original sandwich is basically cheese, butter and bread. A looot of cheese, a lot of butter and to a pan to heat up. This simple version is also served with tomato soup. A classic and delicious combination. The butter on the outside of the sandwich makes the bread have a crispy exterior, melted cheese gives the center a creaminess on the inside and the flavor is just unbelievable. In this case, add a few extra ingredientes to the classic recipe. Grilled chicken, caramelized onions and of course, the star of the show, bacon.
Parts of this beautiful sandwich
Starting of with the bread. For this sandwich I got sourdough bread. The one that I found was already sliced completely. The slices were a bit thin but not too much and with bread like this that is better for sandwiches. I find sourdough bread to be a bit harder than other kinds. Perfect texture for this recipe. You are going to use grilled chicken that is already seasoned with whatever you like the most. I used some chicken I had leftover from another meal at home. It was seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. Nothing too elevated.
Aside from the butter, one of the bread slices had dijon mustard. Dijon mustard has a completely different flavor from regular mustard. I do recommend it for everything. Inside the sandwich, I added some freshly grated emmental cheese, caramelized onions and the crispy bacon. I’ll link the recipe for the caramelized onions right here. It takes all of two minutes and It is so worth it. One of my favorite flavro combinations to this day.
Tips for a perfect bacon grilled cheese:
The bread: The bread for this recipe is sourdough bread. Most of the time this bread comes already sliced but in big portions. If you are going to make this recipe for another bread make sure that it is not a soft bread like brioche for example.
The cheese: Emmental cheese is a swiss cheese with a peculiar flavor. Most of the time I can’t find it in slices like mozzarella or regular swiss cheese. Just grate the cheese a couple of minutes before assembling the sandwich and you are good to go. This is a semi soft cheese so it tends to stick to each other after grating it.
The chicken: Chicken for this recipe does not have to be very special. I used some leftover chicken from a week day lunch. It was lightly seasoned with some salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. To add it to the sandwich I cut the pieces into very small pieces. The worst thing ever when eating sandwiches with chicken or some sort of protein is not being able to cut it with your teeth and it being too big. Small pieces mix into the melted cheese and other ingredients. Problem solved.
Bacon: Some people prefer the bacon a bit undercooked or soft. I think bacon has to be SUPER crispy. Cook it on a pan, without any added oils or butter. Bacon has enough fat. Once the bacon is ready, wait for a little while for the pan to cool and using paper towels clean that grease off. That is the pan you will be using to make the sandwich. That small amount left over in the pan will give your sandwich another extra flavor. Magic.
Equipment:
Chopping board: For this sandwich, I made everything over a chopping board. Cut the onions, grate the cheese and assemble the sandwich in there.
Cheese grater: Whatever kind you find the most comfortable. I have a big rectangular grater that I love and use for everything.
Knife: For all the ingredients that need it.
Pan: To cook the bacon and the sandwich in.
Cooking tongs: The size you have at home. Use it to cook the bacon without risking burning yourself.
Teflon spatula: To flip the sandwich carefully to cook on the other side.
Paper towels: To clean the pan off before making the grilled cheese.
CHICKEN, BACON AND CARAMELIZED ONION GRILLED CHEESE
Ingredients
- 6 slices of sourdough bread
- 150 gr swiss cheese
- 4 bacon strips
- 150 gr cooked chicken breast
- Dijon mustard
- 1/2 recipe of caramelized onions (linked in post)
- 9 tbsp butter
Instructions
- Prep the caramelized onions according to instructions.
- Cook the bacon on the pan until completely done and crispy.
- Once ready, let the pan cool completely before cleaning the grease off with paper towels.
- Grate the swiss cheese and cut the cooked chicken into small pieces.
- Spread some dijon over one of the slices of bread per sandwich. Spread butter on the other.
- Assemble the sandwich adding grated cheese over the dijon, chicken on top, bacon on top of that and caramelized onions on top of the bacon. Add some more cheese on top before closing the sandwich.
- Spread extra butter on the outsides of the bread slices of the sandwich.
- Over medium heat, cook the sandwich until all the cheese melts.
- Serve warm.
