Soo...ever since I went to the Summer Fancy Food Show I've been practically swimming in free stuff. Now, I realize this isn't very PC of a food blogger thing for me to say. But it's true! And I am NOT complaining, I'm working with some really cool companies and getting to try some seriously tasty products. The partnership I might be most excited about it with Great Midwest flavored cheeses. You might notice on my sidebar and footer, there are 2 new lovely ads, courtesy of them. On Monday there will be an in depth review (and giveaway!) and news about a super cool grilled cheese contest they're holding!
Anyway, part of what the Great Midwest people wanted from me was to develop an original grilled cheese recipe. Now um...that was a little tough for me to think of at first. Like...how original can grilled cheese be? So I decided I'd start with the bread. I adapted a ciabatta recipe I'd been wanting to try (GREAT CHOICE, more on that later) and grated in cheese-one of Great Midwest's flavored cheese, Morel & Leek Jack. The Morel & Leek Jack cheese has a nice, subtle, smoky herb flavor that I thought would be nice in the bread. (Click here to find where you can buy it.)
And it was. Part of the beauty of the Great Midwest cheeses is how smooth, and silky they are and how wonderfully they melt. Just look at what it did when baked into this ciabatta:
But let's rewind. I was kind of intimidated when I read the instructions for the ciabatta (not about the adding the cheese part, I figured just added the cheese in before you start kneading and it'd work out-and it did), plus you have to make sure not to forget to make the biga (which is sort of like a starter?) the night before. But when I went into the kitchen it actually was much easier than I'd thought and I produced 4 loaves of the best ciabatta I've ever tasted (and maybe my favorite bread recipe I've ever made?)
The outside of the loaves is a gorgeous golden brown, just crisp enough without being hard or tough, and the inside of the bread is so wonderfully soft (Michael couldn't stop exclaiming over how soft they were). The cheese gives you wonderful little bites of salty, smoky flavor.
You can eat this bread plain, with butter, smeared with your favorite spread (roasted garlic, cream cheese, etc.), toasted, it makes great sandwiches, I bet it would be awesome in a savory bread pudding...really the possibilities go on and on!
And you know what? It makes a BEAUTIFUL grilled cheese. But more on that on Monday...
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