Phew! I thought the weekend might never come, but it’s officially almost here, bringing with it the things that make all that hard work worthwhile. Time for cooking real dinners (as opposed to opening a can of hominy and digging in with a spoon), time for fresh pretzels at the beer store, time to sleep in and go to the gym, time to just…enjoy. You see, life’s short. Keep your chin up! Have a mimosa! Eat a grilled cheese! And whenever I see that grilled cheese social pop-up sandwich board magically appear in our neighborhood, I’m happily reminded to do just that. I asked the lovely MacKenzie Smith of Grilled Cheese Social to share with me one of her very special sandwich recipes this week, and she answered the call with a list of ingredients that harkens back to my midwestern roots… it’s the Gouda Times: a Wisconsin-themed brat-and-gouda grilled cheese on a pretzel roll with spicy mustard. I can hear my “a”s getting more nasal-y just reading the recipe. Oh ya, you betcha! She also identified her power animal as a dachshund. A fierce breed! I was actually bitten on the face by a dachshund at the age of five. Now let’s grill some cheese.
Gouda Times
Ingredients:
1 pretzel roll
1 cup of shredded Gouda
1 cooked bratwurst
1 tbsp sweet and spicy mustard
2 pats of butter
How She does it…
Here’s a trick to getting a super crispy grilled cheese crust. Just slice off the top and feel free to butter it up and eat it as an appetizer. Next, flip over the bottom bun so that the interior of the roll is facing the cutting board. THEN! cover it with some tasty Gouda.
Now take your grilled up bratwurst and slice it in half. Then lay it on. I know it looks kind of gross right here, but I swear, it’ll be awesome when it’s all done and there’s little meat nubs hanging off the edges. Yaow!
Then dollop on some of that sweet and spicy mustard onto the other piece of the bun and plop the remaining cheese on top of the brat.
Close it up, give it a little kiss, and gently place some butter in a frying pan and another pat of buttaaaa on top of the sandwich.
In a grill pan, over medium heat, cook your grilled cheese for about 5 minutes or until it’s all hot and crusty. Flip that ‘ish and do the same thing!
Keep watching as the cheese melts all over the place but keep it together, it’s almost done!”
And that’s a mighty delicious way to celebrate the weekend. Thanks fer the recipe, MacKenzie!