Grilled Cheese with Onions

SoupAddict has a few philosophies that she lives by. Soup is the perfect food, is one. Bacon is love on a plate, is another. Don’t give a feral cat a bell rub, no matter how much it looks like he wants a bell rub, is yet another (the acquisition of that philosophy cost SoupAddict $100 at the emergency room and a course of antibiotics so strong she saw polka dots for a week).

But, one of SoupAddict’s favorite cooking philosophies is that grilled cheese was not meant to be prepared according to a recipe. Why? Because, people, it’s a sandwich that can’t be screwed up. Just about anything you could do to it that sounds delicious probably will be delicious.

Seriously. Grilled cheese with onions? You bet. Grilled cheese with roasted garlic? Yum. Grilled cheese with sautéed mushrooms? Oh, yeah, bay-bee. Grilled cheese with shredded coconut? Hm, not so much. See? Your gut will tell you what’s good.

In fact, let’s test that statement, right here, right now. Grilled cheese. You. SoupAddict. No recipe.

SoupAddict happens to have a new package of organic applewood smoked bacon in her fridge. Gut check: bacon on grilled cheese? […really, you had to ask?…]

SoupAddict likes to bake her bacon when there are other tasks at hand. And the applewood bacon fills the kitchen with yummy smells that make the natives restless.

SoupAddict has a sweet onion sitting around with no place in particular to go, so she slices half of it in thin half-moons. (This will make 2 sandwiches; for 4, use the entire medium-sized onion.) Sauté in the melted butter until they begin to caramelize. Make sure your pan is large enough to allow all of the onion slices to have contact with the pan at all times, for even browning.

Last minute change in plans: SoupAddict has had “cheese sauce” on her mind all day. Once these onions got to cooking, though, “cheesy onion sauce” took center stage (originally, they were simply going to be added to the sandwich in their bare onion goodness).

Pour some heavy cream or half and half into the pan. Add enough cream to surround the onions, but not drown them. Reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the cream has thickened and taken on some of the caramel color of the onions.

Add a handful of your favorite shredded cheese and stir. SoupAddict loves Gruyère.

Hm. More cheese? Yes, please. SoupAddict then adds a handful of shredded extra sharp cheddar. SoupAddict loves shredded extra sharp cheddar.

SoupAddict does not love shredded coconut, so, even if she allowed it in the house, it would not be going anywhere near this fabulously-progressing improv’d grilled cheese sandwich.

Mmmm … cheesy onion sauce. A few twists of freshly-ground black pepper, a few shakes of salt. Ah, yes. That’ll do the trick.

Earlier in the day, SoupAddict baked up this gorgeous loaf of bread, completely unaware at the time of the delicious purpose to which it would be put. Don’t you just love when everything comes together?

A little dijon mustard on one fresh slice. Gut check: thumbs-up.

Add some bacon.

Pile on the cheesy onion sauce.

Top with another delicious slice of fresh bread.

Grill to perfection. (SoupAddict loves her panini grill.)

Oh, yeah, bay-bee. Grilled cheese nirvana.

Does it taste as good as it looks? [Chomp] Yup. [nom nom] Can’t screw up grilled cheese with onions. Hope yours turned out just as luscious. SoupAddict loves happy tummies.