I love grilled cheese sandwiches as you can probably tell from the ridiculous amount of weird combos I have come up with. With summer here I could not resist using some of the beautiful fresh fruit in a grilled cheese sandwich. I always enjoy the melted brie and apple combo in a sandwich so why not try other fruits? Brie is my cheese of choice for this sandwich along with in season B.C. cherries. Instead of giving in to my lazy, let’s do it the easy way half and just throwing the fresh cherries into the sandwich, I roast them a bit first. It concentrates their flavour and removes some of their moisture, since nobody likes a soggy sandwich. Like eww. If you’d seen how many times spellcheck just tried to change eww to ewe you’d know why I have a love/hate relationship with it. It’s not a lamb dish for Pete’s sake and if it was I wouldn’t be using a BABY lamb. They are far too cute at that age to imagine them in a sandwich. And who the hell is Pete anyways? And why do our decisions affect him so much. Food for thought.
Before roasting the cherries I like to toss them in balsamic vinegar which brightens them up a bit and helps bring out their flavour but brandy or port are also great options. Unless you are a recovering alcoholic, then not so much. The next piece of this sandwich, a touch of dark chocolate. Chocolate and cherries were meant for each other kind of like Kevin & I. Although this balsamic roasted cherry, dark chocolate and brie grilled cheese sandwich might sound a bit odd, it is a truly beautiful flavour combination that is pure magic in your mouth!
Is this dessert? Is it dinner? Does it matter?
Balsamic Roasted Cherry, Dark Chocolate and Brie Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cherries, pitted and halved
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or brandy or port)
1 tablespoon butter
2 slices bread
1 1/2 ounces brie, room temperature
1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped, room temperature
Instructions:
Toss the cherries in the balsamic vinegar, place them on a baking sheet in a single layer, roast in a preheated 450F/230C oven for 15-20 minutes.
Heat a pan over medium heat.
Butter one side of each slice of bread, place one slice in the pan with buttered side down, top with half of the cheese, the chocolate, cherries, the remaining cheese and finally the other slice of bread with buttered side up.
Grill until golden brown and the cheese and chocolate has melted, about 2-4 minutes per side.