Day 114: Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

For a week or so, it seemed like Pinterest was "trending" Jalapeno Popper ____________.  And because I love all things jalapeno popper-y, my pin boards are now full of them!  A couple nights ago I tried the grilled cheese version.  This recipe calls for goat cheese, which, in my opinion, tastes like oily goat hair would taste if it ever accidentally got in your mouth.  So I substituted cream cheese instead.  I also thought that I had apricot preserves because I use it in several other recipes, but I did not.  So once again, I substituted.  Concord grape jelly was a good fill-in I believe.  I know these ingredients sound weird, but I believe they come together very well.    You have salty, sweet, cream, crunchy, tangy, spicy...and it works! I feel bad for my husband sometimes because I've been using him as a guinea pig since I discovered Pinterest and especially since I started this blog.  He was really not interested in this idea at all, but he was a trooper.  Even he admitted, "Well, I don't hate it."  He's a strictly basics kind of guy when it comes to food.  I literally could serve the same five things over and over for dinner for the rest of our lives and he'd be happy.  I, on the other hand, would go insane. So try something new tonight!  You might like it!

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Recipe from Cooking and Eating From Away via basil-albi

2 slices sourdough bread
2 ounces goat cheese, softened

2 slices cooked bacon

1 jalapeno peppers
1 tablespoons apricot preserves

1 tablespoon butter

• Set the oven to broil and cook the jalapenos until skins blacken and blister. Remove jalapenos from the oven and transfer immediately into a plastic bag or other sealed container. Seal and let steam until cool enough to handle, about 10-20 minutes. Remove blackened skins.
• Spread one of the slices of bread with the goat cheese. Top with roasted jalapeno peppers, then bacon.
• Spread the other piece of bread with the apricot preserves, and put on top of the other piece. Butter each side of the sandwich, and toast in saucepan over medium heat until bread is toasted, about 4-5 minutes per side.