Little Devil (on horseback) – Bacon Wrapped Dates and Blauschimmel Grilled Cheese

Guess what everybody? I finished grad school FOREVER. Yep, that’s right, no more finals, papers, assignments or pop-quizzes for me.  I can’t even explain how happy I am that I don’t have to make the hike from Brooklyn to Morningside Heights Harlem on the reg anymore.  Even though my official graduation isn’t until tomorrow, my family is here (and let’s be real they like to eat and party just as much as I do) so I decided to commemorate my time at Columbia with a celebratory grilled cheese.  For some inspiration I thought I’d use some blue cheese to symbolize the school colors of blue and white and since grad school seemed like a curse most of the time at times, I decided to incoroporate devils on horseback (bacon wrapped dates) into this sinful and devilious little grilled cheese.

So here’s what I used in these bad boys…

Ingredients:
 
– 1/5 pound of Blauschimmel cheese
  (or a saga blue brie)
– 4 slices of french bread
– 2 pats of salted butter
– 2 devils on horseback
  (bacon wrapped dates)

So to get the cheese for this sandwich I decided to go to one of my favorite places in Williamsburg the world – The Bedford Cheese Shop.  I had originally went in to buy some saga blue brie but the cute guy behind the counter (I swear everyone in there is so adorable that they make my heart melt) told me they were out, and to my delight offered me some of this amazing blauschimmel.  I would try to tell you about how amazing this blue cheese is, but I like the way the shop puts it way better…

“One of the most exceptionally buttery, slightly soured, delicately veined, blue cheese you will ever have the pleasure of eating.  It’s like fresh churned butter on steroids, or a beefy blue on E. Smear on top of a dense dark bread for an evening of bliss. Pair with a dirty martini.”

See what I mean? Awesome cheese, awesome description, and awesome shop.  So anyways, go ahead and treat yourself to some of this delicious blue and smear it on two pieces of crusty french bread.

Look at those veins!

 Next comes the devils on horseback.  A while ago I went to dinner with an amazing fellow grilled cheese enthusiast – Rick Wolfe.  He is opening up a grilled cheese truck (The Cheesy Truck) in Columbus, Ohio, so you should definitely eat there if you live in the area (believe me, I’ve drooled over the menu).  So while we were at dinner, Rick decided to order us some devils on horseback and I was instantly obsessed with these sweet and smokey little morsels.  Even though i basically devoured the entire tray (sorry for forgetting how to share Rick), I honestly haven’s stopped thinking about them since.

To make devils on horseback you basically just wrap some pitted dates in thick cut bacon, and bake them at 400° for about 20 minutes (or until your bacon is cooked through). Once you have them prepeared, gently slice one down the middle and put both halves onto a piece of bread.

Then pile on some more of that delicious blue.

And top with another piece of french bread.

Now butter both sides of the sandwiches and heat your pan on medium high.  Because the cheese is already so soft, it will only take a few minutes on each side.  Once they start to crisp up and show that nice, golden brown, and toasty color, flip them and repeat. 

When both sides are crusty, take the grilled cheese out of the skillet and serve!  If you have some spicy mustard on hand I’d definitely recommend dunking them in for an extra zing.

Although this sandwich has a lot going on, each component melts together to form one hell of a grilled cheese.  The sweetness from the date balances out the tartness of the blue, and the smokiness from bacon rounds everything out.  Oh and as for the bread and butter, well I guess we can all agree that they just make everything taste a little bit better.

xoxo,

GCS