A grilled cheese sandwich you can be proud of

Three kinds of cheese and a tasty puree bring this sandwich to a high level. Note: it is not burnt. The turmeric in the bread turns dark.

Ah, the lowly grilled cheese. Often derided by haughty chefs and frequently ruined by those who make it. Here’s the thing: there’s no single way to make a good grilled cheese, but here’s what the Feral Cooks do.

What you’ll need:

• 2-3 strips of bacon, cooked, not crisp, and cooled to room temperature
• A few grape tomatoes or a couple slices of a large, ripe tomato
• Some mustard of your liking
• Ginger paste
• Garlic clove (s)
• Crumbled blue cheese
• Shredded Parmesan cheese
• Sautéed mushrooms, cooled
• Pinch of salt

• 2 slices of bread of your liking (I used a turmeric bread that I made)
• Brie cheese
• Sliced mozzarella cheese
• Sliced Swiss cheese
• Mayonnaise

What to do:

Making the spread:

Take the first 9 ingredients—you decide the amounts, based on your palate—and highly puree them with a stick (immersion) blender.

Looks a bit unappetizing, but this spread tastes great.

Now for the cheese glue. Lay your bread out and add your Swiss/brie on one slice and the mozzarella on the other slice.

Starting on whichever slice you wish, spread your bacon/mushroom puree over the top of the cheese.

Cover the puree with the remaining cheese from the other slice of bread, so the puree is sandwiched between cheese.

Cover this with the remaining slice of bread to make your sandwich. Now for the tricky, then trickier part.

Heat a cast-iron pan (if you have one) on the stove to low-medium heat. While it’s heating up, spread mayonnaise across the OUTSIDE of your top piece of bread.

When the pan’s hot enough, carefully flip the sandwich into the pan with the mayo side down. Then add mayo to the OUTSIDE of the other piece of bread and return it to the sandwich.

Carefully grill the one side and make sure it’s crispy, but not burned.

When that side is done, very carefully flip the sandwich so the other mayo side can cook.

When done put on your plate with the cooler side down, cut, serve and enjoy.

The cheese acts as a glue to keep the spread in place.