Bacon Brie Apricot Grilled Cheese


Date Published: July 22nd, 2020 | Last Updated: July 24th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, quick and easy, < 30mins
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 10 mins

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Ohhhhh boy. Does it get any better than bacon in a grilled cheese? This sandwich is a must-try. The savoury salty bacon with the sweetness of the apricot jam, all brought together by the ooey-gooey brie.

Grilled cheese (or toasties in Australia), are THE ultimate comfort food. It’s quick, easy, and indulgent. Nothing beats the ooey-gooey cheesiness of a good crisp grilled cheese.

Making 4 grilled cheeses for lunch!

This post is a continuation of the grilled cheese lunch marathon we had last week. You can read more about it in yesterday’s sriracha butter apple grilled cheese post.

We made:

Don’t worry, I’ll be posting the recipe to all 4 grilled cheeses above – just give me a little time 🙂

Unlike my other recipes, I didn’t make a video for these sandwiches since the instructions are fairly straightforward (let me know in the comments if you’d like me to make a video). I was also a little too excited when making these sandwiches and forgot to take some photos of the process 😅. I’ll update this post with more photos the next time I make them again (which probably won’t be long).

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe!

Like the sriracha butter apple grilled cheese recipe, this one is also quick and easy to put together, but it does take a little more time because you need to fry up the bacon – but it’s definitely worth it.

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 4 slices of bacon (2 slices per sandwich) – you can use whatever type of bacon you like. In Australia it’s a little harder to get the typical fatty bacon like from back home (called ‘streaky bacon’ here) so I used short cut bacon here. It’s not as fatty or crispy as streaky bacon, but it’s still delicious.
  • Mayonnaise for spreading – this is the secret to a crisp golden grilled cheese! Mayo gives a nicer crisp and colour compared to butter.
  • 4 slices of white bread (I like to use sourdough, but whatever white bread you’ve got works)
  • 4 Tbsps Apricot jam (2 Tbsps per sandwich)
  • Brie cheese, sliced (you can choose a different cheese if you like. Brie takes a bit of a backseat in this sandwich and lets the bacon and apricot takeover but still provides the ooey-gooey goodness)

Directions:

Fry up your bacon on a skillet on medium heat. If you’re using streaky bacon, you won’t need any oil and just cook on both sides until crispy and set aside on some paper towel to absorb extra grease. If you’re using the less fatty short cut bacon, then you might need a little oil in your pan so your bacon doesn’t stick. Cook on both sides until fragrant and you get some light brown colour. Set aside.

Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread (this will be the outside of the sandwich that you will toast to get that crisp golden colour).

Assemble your grilled cheese with the mayonnaise side facing the outside. Spread apricot jam on the other side of the bread, then layer with brie, two slices of bacon, a little more brie, the other slice of bread (again, mayo on the outside).

(Incase that sentence was confusing, your layers should be: mayonnaise + bread + apricot jam + cheese + bacon + cheese + bread + mayonnaise).

Get a pan on the stove on medium heat and once your pan is heated, place your sandwich in the pan (you don’t need any oil in the pan because the mayonnaise on the outside of your sandwich will act as your oil base).

Toast your sandwich until the bread is a beautiful crisp golden brown and the cheese is melty (~3-5mins), then carefully flip your sandwich over and toast the other side. (Tip: if your sandwich is quite tall, you can gently flatten your sandwich as your cheese melts. This will help compact your sandwich and make it less messy to eat.) Once your second side is toasted and your cheese is melted, repeat with your second sandwich and serve immediately! Enjoy!!

If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section. You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Summarized Recipe:

bacon brie apricot grilled cheese

Date Published: July 21st, 2020 | Last Updated: July 21st, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, quick and easy, <30mins
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices of bacon (2 slices per sandwich)
  • Mayonnaise for spreading
  • 4 slices of white bread (I like to use sourdough, but whatever white bread you’ve got works)
  • 4 Tbsps Apricot jam (2 Tbsps per sandwich)
  • Brie cheese, sliced (see the notes above)

Directions:

  1. Fry up your bacon on a skillet on medium heat until cooked (see notes above depending on which kind of bacon you use).
  2. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread (this will be the outside of the sandwich that you will toast to get that crisp golden colour).
  3. Assemble your grilled cheese with the mayonnaise side facing the outside. Spread apricot jam on the other side of the bread, then layer with brie, two slices of bacon, a little more brie, the other slice of bread (again, mayo on the outside).
  4. Get a pan on the stove on medium heat and once your pan is heated, place your sandwich in the pan. Toast your sandwich until the bread is a beautiful crisp golden brown and the cheese is melty (~3-5mins), then carefully flip your sandwich over and toast the other side. Once your second side is toasted and your cheese is melted, repeat with your second sandwich and serve immediately. Enjoy!!

AbbyLeave a comment

Sriracha Butter Apple Grilled Cheese


Date Published: July 21st, 2020 | Last Updated: July 24th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, quick and easy, < 15mins
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 10 mins

Jump to recipe |

Grilled cheese (or toasties in Australia), are THE ultimate comfort food. It’s quick, easy, and indulgent. Nothing beats the ooey-gooey cheesiness of a good crisp grilled cheese. Nearly a decade ago I came upon an article on gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches – this was before I had an interest in cooking and was still in the world of processed Kraft cheese for my toasties. My world was forever changed when I read about the different types of cheeses and flavour combinations that people use with sweet and savoury ingredients. It amazed me how many different ways you can make a grilled cheese! I’ve since been experimenting with different ingredients for different types of grilled cheese and also stumbled across some really great recipes.

Making 4 grilled cheeses for lunch!

Since being in lockdown (thanks to ‘rona), Toby and I have been making lunch everyday for ourselves and his parents. Last week after a few big laborious cooks, we decided to take it easy and make a simple lunch with grilled cheese. Of course knowing me, if given the opportunity I always like to go all out and make everything ‘extra’. So instead of a quick and easy lunch, we ended up making 4 different flavours of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches served with a roasted pumpkin soup (which also turned out amazing and I should remind myself to post the soup recipe later). We all stuffed ourselves silly, but there’s no room for regrets when eating grilled cheese.

We made:

Don’t worry, I’ll be posting the recipe to all 4 grilled cheeses above – just give me a little time :). Our grilled cheese marathon made me think that I should have a separate section on this website just for grilled cheeses because there’s no doubt going to be a lot recipes on them here – thoughts?

Sheldon stalking us in hopes of some food falling on the floor

Unlike my other recipes, I didn’t make a video for these sandwiches since the instructions are fairly straightforward (let me know in the comments if you’d like me to make a video). I was also a little too excited when making these sandwiches and forgot to take some photos of the process 😅. I’ll update this post with more photos the next time I make them again (which probably won’t be long).

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! I’m starting off with the sriracha butter apple grilled cheese because it’s the easiest (and my favourite) out of all 4 of them and you can quickly put it together.

This grilled cheese is one of my favourite and most frequently made fancy grilled cheeses because not only does it packs a punch, it’s also so easy with minimal “cooking” required. The heavy cheese and kick of the sriracha butter is offset by the refreshing crisp apple to balance it out. If you’re a fan of sriracha and grilled cheese, you’ve got to try this sandwich!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 1 Tbsp (14g) butter, softened – you can use melted butter as well, but be sure you toast the sandwich soon after or else the bread might get a little soggy
  • 1 Tbsp sriracha hot sauce – or to taste. I aim for a 1:1 ratio with the sriracha and butter, but occasionally I like a stronger kick and will ramp it up. Make it to your preference.
  • Mayonnaise for spreading – this is the secret to a crisp golden grilled cheese! Mayo gives a nicer crisp and colour compared to butter.
  • 4 slices of white bread (I like to use sourdough, but whatever white bread you’ve got works)
  • Cheddar cheese – shredded or sliced (I prefer a stronger tasting cheese in this sandwich like an aged cheddar or parmesan so it’s not lost amongst the other strong flavours in this sandwich compared to a lighter tasting white cheese like mozzarella)
  • 1 apple, sliced and cored – I usually slice them into 2mm thickness so I’m not overwhelmed by too much apple crunch vs cheesiness.

Directions:

Make the sriracha butter: combine the butter and sriracha together. Adjust to your taste, but I prefer a 1:1 ratio. Add more sriracha if you want a stronger sriracha flavour in your sandwich. If you’re unsure, you can also add sriracha to your sandwich after you make it. Set aside.

Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread (this will be the outside of the sandwich that you will toast to get that crisp golden colour). Spread the sriracha butter on the other side of the bread.

Assemble your grilled cheese with the mayonnaise side facing the outside and sriracha butter on the inside. Layer with cheese, then sliced apples, then more cheese, then your other slice of bread. (Incase that sentence was confusing, your layers should be: mayonnaise + bread + sriracha butter + cheese + apples + cheese + sriracha butter + bread + mayonnaise).

Get a pan on the stove on medium heat and once your pan is heated, place your sandwich in the pan (you don’t need any oil in the pan because the mayonnaise on the outside of your sandwich will act as your oil base).

Toast your sandwich until the bread is a beautiful crisp golden brown and the cheese is melty (~3-5mins), then carefully flip your sandwich over and toast the other side. (Tip: if your sandwich is quite tall, you can gently flatten your sandwich as your cheese melts. This will help compact your sandwich and make it less messy to eat.) Once your second side is toasted and your cheese is melted, repeat with your second sandwich and serve immediately! Enjoy!!

If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section. You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Summarized Recipe:

Sriracha Butter apple grilled cheese

Date Published: July 21st, 2020 | Last Updated: July 21st, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, quick and easy, <15mins
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp (14g) butter, softened
  • 1 Tbsp sriracha hot sauce – or to taste
  • Mayonnaise for spreading
  • 4 slices of white bread (I like to use sourdough, but whatever white bread you’ve got works)
  • Cheddar cheese – shredded or sliced (or any strong cheese – see notes above)
  • 1 apple, cored and sliced to 2mm thickness

Directions:

  1. Make the sriracha butter: combine the butter and sriracha together. Set aside.
  2. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread (this will be the outside of the sandwich that you will toast to get that crisp golden colour). Spread the sriracha butter on the other side of the bread.
  3. Assemble your grilled cheese with the mayonnaise side facing the outside and sriracha butter on the inside. Layer with cheese, then sliced apples, then more cheese, then your other slice of bread (again mayo side facing out).
  4. Get a pan on the stove on medium heat and once your pan is heated, place your sandwich in the pan. Toast your sandwich until the bread is a beautiful crisp golden brown and the cheese is melty (~3-5mins), then carefully flip your sandwich over and toast the other side. Once your second side is toasted and your cheese is melted, repeat with your second sandwich and serve immediately. Enjoy!!

AbbyLeave a comment

Halloumi Cheese Pie


Date Published: July 14th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 2nd, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, vegetarian, breads
Serves: 8 pies | Prep time: 25 mins (without dough) | Cook time: 15 mins

Jump to recipe | Watch the video

Halloumi cheese pies are a common item in many Lebanese bakeries around Melbourne. I was first introduced to them by my partner Toby on one of our first few dates. He took me to a small little bakery in Werribee called ‘A1 Bakery’ that was the size of a two-car garage with only three tables and some chairs. They sold a few common Lebanese grocery items on a small shelf in the back. Toby told me that he used to get cheese pies and ‘oregano pizzas’ (which I later found out was a za’atar manakish) all the time back at home with his parents. I had never heard of either until that day.

I’ll be honest, I never even knew what halloumi was until a few years ago. It was the greatest find ever. It’s got a subtle taste like many white cheeses and it’s squishy – similar to Canadian cheese curds in poutine. My mind was blown the first time I had it grilled. When Toby told me that this bakery makes a pocket of halloumi, I knew I had to have it. It was amazing! It was like eating a pizza pocket but with glorious halloumi cheese. ❤

Back to present day in isolation from the pandemic, on a whim we decided to try remaking the delicious pies and the ‘oregano pizzas’ aka manakish. The results were spot-on and surprisingly easy! All you need is a basic dough and some halloumi cheese. I’ll post the manakish recipe too shortly so keep your eyes peeled.[Edit: The manakish recipe is now uploaded! Click here for the recipe.]

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! You can watch the video below to guide you through the recipe. If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Basic dough – a full dough will make 8 cheese pies. If you don’t want to make that many, you can halve the dough recipe or freeze half the dough for future use. I frequently make 4 cheese pies and 4 za’atar manakish with one basic dough recipe. Or alternatively, Toby likes to freeze the divided dough balls individually and just defrost one or two a few hours before making a quick late night snack. If you’re feeling lazy, you can also make this with store bought pizza dough.
  • Halloumi cheese, shredded – amount will depend on how full you want it. I usually use about 3/4 cup of shredded cheese per cheese pie.

Directions:

Start off with a ball of basic dough (after it has risen and you’ve kneaded it a couple of times).

Divide the dough ball into 8 equal portions. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 15mins to go through a second rest and rise (don’t worry if it doesn’t rise too much during this process). If you don’t have a warm place, you can use the proofing method in my how-to section.

Note: If you don’t want to make 8 cheese pies, you can wrap up the balls individually in cling wrap and freeze them for future use.

After the balls have rested, take each one out and knead a couple times (to release any new air bubbles that may have formed) on a lightly floured surface, then roll it out until about 3mm thickness. This dough does rise quite a bit so make sure your dough isn’t too thick.

Add shredded halloumi to half of the dough. Leave about 1-2cm away from the edge so you have enough room to seal the pie.

Fold one half over the other and seal the edges together. It doesn’t really matter how you seal it, as long as there are no holes. I pinch my dough edges and fold it upwards (you can see how I do it in the video).

Put your pan on a baking tray and bake at 200˚C for about 15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Ta-da! Serve immediately. 🙂

Let me know in the comments if you tried this recipe! I’d love to hear from you.

Watch the Video Tutorial!

Summarized Recipe:

Halloumi Cheese Pie

Date Published: July 14th, 2020 | Last Updated: July 14th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, vegetarian, breads
Serves: 8 pies | Prep time: 25 mins (without dough) | Cook time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 basic dough (or store-bought pizza dough)
  • 6 cups Halloumi cheese, shredded (or to taste. I use about 3/4 cup per pie)

Directions:

  1. Get your basic dough (after it’s risen the first time and kneaded to release air bubbles) and divide it into 8 equal portions.
  2. Cover the 8 balls with a tea towel and set in a warm place for 15 mins (you can use the proofing method if you don’t have a warm place)
  3. After 15 mins, knead each dough ball a few times to release any new air bubbles and use a rolling pin to roll it to 3mm thickness.
  4. Cover half of the dough with halloumi cheese and fold the other half over it. Pinch the edges to seal it.
  5. Bake at 200˚C for 15mins until golden brown. Enjoy!

Note: if you don’t want to make 8 cheese pies, you can make only half of the basic dough recipe or just use half and freeze the other half for later or in another recipe. I frequently make 4 cheese pies and 4 za’atar manakish with one dough ball.

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