Breakfast cinnamon-raisin apple grilled goat cheese

(Originally posted by myself at Slashfood, August 25, 2005)

As I’ve said before, my wife and son both have food allergies that force us to be creative with our meals. The grilled cheese assignment was definitely one I had to think about for a while, as they’re cow dairy and wheat intolerant. Originally I thought I’d make a simple Ezekiel bread grilled goat cheese, but no, I wanted more. Behold, the wheat flour-free, cow dairy-free, Breakfast Cinnamon-Raisin Apple Grilled Goat Cheese.

Originally I wanted to do this on an actual grill, you know, the gas one out on the deck. But then it occurred to me that the odds of my getting dressed enough to get outside and grill this sucker at eight o’clock in the morning were about a bazillion-to-one. That and the fact it was raining outside. So I opted for a non-stick pan instead.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of organic Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin bread
  You can get this at a natural foods store like Whole Foods. While not entirely technically “wheat free,” Ezekiel bread is made with sprouted wheat instead of processed and refined wheat. Read more about it on Food for Life’s website.
• 1/4 apple, cored, peeled and thinly sliced
  Use whatever kind of apple you like.
• 2 TB smooth goat cheese
  Chevre is a good style to use, though any brand without any added herbs should work well as long as it spreads well.
• 1 TB raw, creamed honey
  Trader Joe’s has an excellent one. The creamed honey isn’t necessary, but it spreads nice and thick and isn’t too sloppy to work with.
• 2 TB coconut oil

Toast up the bread quickly to warm it up a bit, though don’t toast to the point of making the bread crunchy or blackened at all. The warm bread gets the cheese good and melty before you put the finished sandwich on the pan.

Generously spread the honey on one slice of the bread. On the other slice, put a thick layer of the goat cheese and spread evenly. At the very least you should not see any bread through the cheese at all.

Arrange the apple slices over the goat cheese side of the bread. Only use enough so as they don’t overlap much.

Put 1 TB of the coconut oil in the pan on high heat. Put the two slices of bread together (honey and goat cheese together, obviously). Spread another 1 TB of coconut oil on each side of the sandwich.

Once the oil in the pan is hot and spread evenly, put the sandwich in and immediately press down on it firmly with a spatula. Only do this for about ten seconds or so, then flip and do the other side for another ten seconds.

Turn off heat and continue to flip the sandwich from side to side until it’s good and dark brown. Remove from pan, slice and serve.

You can serve this as a breakfast dish or even dessert. This sandwich melts in your mouth, with the honey, apples and goat cheese working together wonderfully. You might be tempted to use butter instead of coconut oil, but I think the oil just makes the whole thing come together as one hell of a sweet, tasty treat. If you’re interested, you can see more images of this creation on my Flickr set.

Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Dec 21, 2008 @ 10:49 EST5EDT