30 Days of Grilled Cheese with Land O'Lakes

Yes--30 days full of grilled cheese ideas just for you! Not all from me, of course, but from 30 different bloggers. Land O’Lakes is celebrating Grilled Cheese Month, which is starting today and continuing for the month of April, with 30 different ideas for grilled cheese sandwiches using their classic American Cheese and their 4 Cheese Italian Blend.

My perfect grilled cheese? It includes the Land O’Lakes 4 Cheese Italian Blend, a tangy raspberry mustard, smoked apple Chardonnay sausage, and sliced apples, all griddled to perfection on sourdough bread. My daughter told me this was the best sandwich she’s ever had, and I have to agree--we love it!

It’s got everything covered--crispy, buttery edges, it’s slightly sweet from the mustard, a nice crunch from the apples, smoky sausage, and that fantastic blend of Asiago, Romano, Parmesan and American cheeses in the 4 Cheese Italian Blend. It’s a sandwich full of great taste and texture!

Did you know that Land O Lakes® Deli American Cheese is the number one seller in America? It’s true. They’ve been producing cheese for over 90 years, so they definitely know what they’re doing. Moms, Dads and kids love how versatile it is, and it tastes great. My daughter knows if I try to sneak another American cheese by her--she loves good old LOL American. And she finds it funny the the deli sticker on the package says LOL. Don’t forget that with grilling season approaching, you can add it to your favorite cheeseburger recipes!

How amazing is this? Pin a Meal. Give a Meal. Throughout April until May 1, Land O’Lakes will donate $1 to Feeding America every time someone pins or repins a Land O’Lakes recipe on Pinterest. That’s eight meals for a hungry family when you pin a recipe—and eight more every time anyone else repins it. Giving goes viral. Find your favorite Grilled Cheese recipe to pin on landolakes.com. So please get those pins going and feed some hungry folks!

Elle’s Grilled Cheese, aka Grilled Cheese with Smoked Sausage, Raspberry Mustard and Sliced Apple

Makes one sandwich

2 slices sourdough bread
Raspberry jam with spicy deli mustard stirred in, to your taste preference
1 Smoked Apple Chardonnay Sausage, or your favorite (I had a 4 pack from Trader Joe’s)
1 small apple (I used Fuji), cored and thinly sliced
4 slices Land O Lakes® 4 Cheese Italian Blend
Butter for grilling the sandwich, as much as you may need

First off, mix the raspberry jam and deli mustard in a small bowl. Adjust to your taste and set aside. Now, my sourdough bread was large, so I needed about ¼ cup of jam and 1 tbsp mustard, but amounts are up to you.

Slice the apple and the sausage and set aside. I like to slice the sausage on an angle for larger pieces and more bread coverage.

Heat your pan or griddle to just over medium heat. Spread the raspberry mustard on the bread and when the pan is hot enough, melt some butter in it--about 1 tbsp. You may also just butter your bread, but my butter was straight out of the fridge--too hard to spread on bread.

Place one slice of bread in the pan, mustard side up. Place two pieces of cheese down on the bread, followed by the sausage slices and then the apple slices. Place two more pieces of cheese over the apples, and add the second piece of bread, mustard side down, of course.

When the bottom bread slice is golden brown and toasty, use a spatula to carefully flip the sandwich over. I usually add more butter while I have the sandwich on the spatula--just have your butter ready to go and within reach.

When the bottom of the sandwich is golden brown, remove from the pan, let it cool for a couple of minutes and slice. Serve with your favorite soup or chips.

Visit Land O’Lakes online for more information and recipe ideas, and be sure to check out the other 29 grilled cheese ideas from the other bloggers in the series! Oh, and remember to pin those grilled cheese recipes and help to feed the hungry!

Click on the logo below to follow along and get more fantastic grilled cheese recipes!

Disclosure: this post was sponsored by Land O’Lakes as part of the Kitchen Play Sidecar series. All opinions given are my own.

Browned Butter Sugar Cookie Ice Cream

The idea for this ice cream just popped into my head one day. Once it was there, it was hard to stop thinking about it. I even pushed back a chocolate ice cream to make this one, so that’s saying something! I wanted the flavors of my favorite sugar cookie recipe, given to be by my friend Shaye. Butter, vanilla and almond. The vanilla and almond flavors were easy, but I was worried about incorporating butter. I didn’t want it to be greasy or lumpy. Who wants to eat a chunk of butter in their ice cream? Well, some of you do love butter.

This ice cream is definitely Scoopapalooza-worthy!

I know there are butter flavorings out there, and I did look at some. But Lori at The Burp! Blog chimed in on my Facebook discussion (thank goodness!) and told me not to worry. She and Eric had just done a Browned Butter Cinnamon Ice Cream. She said the texture was perfect and still had all of that buttery good flavor in it. Even better, because it was browned butter, and if you’ve never tried it that way, you’re missing out! So this recipe base is based on the method in their recipe. Thanks, Lori!

You don’t have to add sprinkles to this if you don’t want to. I wanted to pretty it up a bit and have it look a little like the famous Lofthouse sugar cookies. There were no multi-color sprinkles at the store, so I went with pretty in pink ones.

Browned Butter Sugar Cookie Ice Cream

Makes about 2 quarts

12 tbsp butter (Yes, twelve.)
1 - 1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla powder (That’s what gives it tiny brown flecks. Optional-you can use extract instead.)
2 cups half and half (You'll add more later for a total of 3 1/2 cups.)
Approximately 1 1/2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp almond extract
a couple pinches fine sea salt
1/2 cup sprinkles

In a medium pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Keep an eye on it, and let it go until it starts to brown and smell nutty. Don't let it go too far and burn! When it's smelling good and nutty, add the sugar and salt. (*Start with 1 cup of sugar, you can always add a bit more later if it needs it.) Mix the salt and sugar in well, then carefully add 2 cups of half and half, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve.

Pour the hot liquid into a heat safe container and chill completely.

When you remove the chilled liquid from the fridge, carefully lift off the solids that have collected on the top. Don't discard this buttery goodness--it tastes incredible! Use it on muffins or scones or pancakes or something. So you've removed the solids, add enough half and half to bring it to 3 1/2 cups total--test it now to see if you need more sugar. If you think you do, add up to 1/4 cup more and stir until it's dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, almond extract and sea salt. 

Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. In the last few seconds of churning, add the sprinkles and let them get completely stirred through. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze from a few hours to overnight so it can set up.

• This ice cream is scoopable right out of the freezer--no waiting or popping it in the microwave to soften it a bit.
• It’s buttery, slightly nutty, sprinkly, creamy and a tiny bit salty. Kids love it. Adults love it. It’s a win-win. It also makes pretty ice cream sandwiches, as you can see in the photos. I used some Duchy Originals Oaten Biscuits which aren’t sweet all, so they were a nice contrast to the ice cream.

Grilled Chocolate and Parmesan Sandwich

Yeah, really. And it’s good. Damn good. Pairing the not so sweet dark chocolate with the nutty, tangy Parmesan cheese is pure genius. Don’t forget about the buttery-crispy grilled bread.

Who, me? Genius? Why thanks! But no, it’s not my idea. I read about it on The Huffington Post a couple weeks ago, and haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I’d have made it right away, too, if it weren’t for those pesky kids eating all of the chocolate and bread. Moving on…

It’s Sunday afternoon, and it’s a rainy one, at that. Husband is out with one of the kids at Comic Con, and it’s just me and the rest of the kids. Who are busy playing the Wii and generally goofing off, which is good. No cries of “Mom, I’m boooored!" Yet.

I decided, after doing some behind the scenes stuff on my blog, that I should hightail it to the kitchen and make this before all the Parm was gone again. Good thing, too, because as you can see, there’s just a small chunk left.

Now, before you start thinking this is gross, read this, from the article:

“Each ingredient's volatile compounds (aromas) are quantified using gas chromatography and/or a mass spectrometer. The concentrations are then compared with their respective flavor threshold and finally matched with other ingredients that have similar compounds.”

So there! I double dog dare you to give this a try. (I know, some of you are already in the kitchen making this!) For those of you that are skeptical, trust me. It’s not cheesy. The chocolate and Parmesan compliment each other--think salty/sweet.

Grilled Chocolate and Parmesan Sandwich

Makes one sandwich.

For the love of all things good and cheesy, don't use the grated stuff. Get a good little hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and use some thin slices here.

2 slices of your favorite bread
2 ounces dark (semi-sweet) chocolate, chopped-not too coarse, you need it to melt
Enough thinly shaved slices Parmesan cheese to cover one slice of bread
Butter

Heat a skillet to about medium--maybe a little higher. Butter one side of each slice of bread.

Put one slice, butter side down in the pan, and cover it with the cheese slices. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over that, and place the second slice of bread, butter side up, on top of that.

Heat this until the cheese and chocolate get melty, and then carefully flip the sandwich over with a spatula. When both sides of the sandwich are golden brown to your liking, it's done.

Serve right away, with lots of napkins. If someone else wants one, tell them to make their own, you're eating.

• The next time I make this, I’m using sourdough, more cheese, and a little less chocolate.
• Even my nine year old loved this, and that’s saying a lot! He doesn’t like strong cheese or dark chocolate. He even asked for more! The sixteen year old swiped what I had left, too.
• Notice that I categorized this under main dish, lunch, and dessert. Because for some of you, chocolate or cheese could actually be a main dish. I know. It’s ok. Yes, I’ll hold you. What, breakfast? Hell, yes! With coffee.

Baklava Butter

I adore Baklava. I’ve never met one I didn’t like! But as far as making it, I’m not sure I have the patience, with all the layering that needs to be done. And then, after making it, I’d want to eat all of it! It’s so sweet and nutty--completely addicting. How could I turn it away, with all of those nuts, the sweet honey, and the crunchy, paper thin layers of phyllo dough?

I’ve found a way to get all of my favorite things from Baklava, without all of the work. How does it taste? Nutty, crunchy, sweet--but not too sweet, and there’s the telltale signature spice, cinnamon. I don’t see how I can go any amount of time without this in my kitchen.

The other day, while out shopping with Billy, I stopped to check out the cooking mags. I have an addiction, ok? I know, you do, too! The rack was filled with comfort food related issues for slow cookers (of which I don’t have) and casseroles (Billy strongly dislikes casseroles of almost any kind). I saw an issue of Cuisine at Home, which I’ve only ever picked up once or twice. But skimming through it, I saw quite a few promising recipes.

I didn’t even pick the magazine up to read it until a few days later when we got some free time. This recipe for Baklava Butter nearly jumped off the page while screaming my name. It’s true! I went out almost right away and got the nuts to make it.

Speaking of nuts, I know they can be expensive. Trader Joe’s has very reasonable prices on nuts if you’re near one. Whole Foods allows you to buy just the amount you need in the bulk foods aisle. If these aren’t options for you, try your nearest natural foods store. They’ll likely have a bulk food section. If none of these options are going to happen for you, then pick up the nuts you can. I’m sure this spread would be just as fantastic if you can only get one or two types of the nuts.

Don’t even get me started on the health benefits of nuts! By now, you should already know how fabulous they are for you, but if you don’t, check out this site. Every single nut in this recipe is so good for you! And it’s sweetened only with honey. Best part? You don’t have to mess around with blanching and skinning the nuts. Plus, it’s a no bake, quickie snack. So make some!

Baklava Butter

Makes just over 2 cups.
Adapted from Cuisine at Home.

1 cup almonds
2/3 cup walnuts
2/3 cup cashews
2/3 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup honey (Use organic! Cheap honey is full of nasty hidden chemicals and HFCS.)
1/2 cup water
Couple pinches kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor about 20-30 times. you still want to have some of the nutty texture, so don't overdo it.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Note: All of the nuts I used were roasted, not raw. You can certainly use raw if you'd like, and combined with honey, can be a raw spread for you to enjoy! If any of the nuts are salted, taste for seasoning before you add some salt.

So simple!

• Serve this with your favorite bread, bagel, roll, etc.
• Billy chose to swirl some into some Greek yogurt and said it was amazing. A must try!