Let’s face it; on the comfort food scale, grilled cheese sandwiches rank pretty high. They’re great regardless of the season; they can be eaten alone or with a bowl of soup; they have endless possibilities.  And, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love them.

As kids, most of us ate the standard Wonder Bread and Kraft Singles grilled cheese.  As adults, our tastes have (hopefully) grown, and our grilled cheeses have become more creative & complex. We’ve changed our cheese, added meat, veggies, jams, jellies, and chocolate, found artisan bread, and even switched the bread for cake!

Making the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich doesn’t take skill, and it certainly doesn’t take a recipe.  All you need is imagination and inspiration.

For me, my greatest grilled cheese mistake is trying to cram too much between two slices of bread.  My grilled cheeses always have stuff sliding and oozing out the sides. But, hey…I’ve always heard “the messier, the better!”

Last night’s grilled cheese dinner was no different.  I wanted to try something new, and my husband wanted simple.  We both used sourdough bread, thick cut Applewood smoked bacon, and pepper jelly, but where he wanted deli sliced colby-jack, I wanted scoops of good ole fashioned pimento cheese. The end result…ooey, gooey, hang-your-head-over-your-plate goodness. Paired with a cocktail, I had a truly adult dinner.

My Southern Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich

2 slices of good sourdough bread

2 tsp butter or margarine-softened

1 TBSP pepper jelly-I use Braswell’s

1/4 c. butter-melted

1/4 c. pimento cheese -I use Price’s

3 slices crisp thick cut Applewood smoked bacon-I use Wright Brand

Assembly

Butter one side of each slice of bread.  Grill over medium heat until golden brown and crisp.  Remove from heat. Brush the opposite side with melted butter, and spread pepper jelly on the grilled side of one slice.  Then, divide the pimento cheese in half and spread on the grilled side of each slice.  Place the freshly buttered, ungrilled side of each slice on the griddle/frying pan. Allow to grill.  As cheese melts, the jelly side will get loose. Place 3 slices of crisp cooked bacon on the diagonal of one side.  Flip the other cheese side to cover the bacon.  Remove sandwich from the griddle/frying pan to a cutting board.  Allow to rest for a minute.  Cut sandwich on the opposite diagonal from the bacon.  Serve with extra pepper jelly for dipping.