Ingredients
sliced organic whole wheat bread
organic aged sharp cheddar cheese
1 package organic Bacon*
reserved bacon lard, cooled until solid
1 large clove of garlic per sandwich, finely chopped
In a cast iron skillet, cook a package of bacon to desired crispiness, placing cooked bacon on a plate covered with a paper towel. Reserve all drippings in a bowl or sanitized jar and cool, until solidified, in the refrigerator. This picture is of turkey bacon, but I suggest using beef bacon, because turkey bacon really doesn't have enough fat to make drippings. Luckily, I already had some bacon drippings saved in the fridge.
Once the drippings have solidified, spread a thin layer of the lard on one side of each of the slices of bread. Cut thick slices of the aged cheddar and arrange on the un-larded side of one slice of bread, place a single layer of bacon slices on top of the cheese, and cover with one of the remaining slice of bread for each sandwich, making sure the lard side is on the outside of the sandwich. This is basically the same as prepping a normal grilled cheese sandwich, but substituting bacon lard for butter or margarine. I know that some people butter both sides of their bread when making grilled cheese, but bacon fat has enough flavor and salt that it would be overkill if spread on both the inside and the outside of the sandwich.
Heat a teaspoon of the lard in a cast iron skillet. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of the minced garlic within a sandwich-sized area of the pan. Place one sandwich on top of the sprinkled garlic in the pan, lard-side down and heat until the cheese is melts, flipping as necessary to avoid charring the bread.
At this point, depending on the texture of the bread you are using, you may have to press the sandwich to get it evenly toasted and to ensure the cheese melts completely. I have developed a seemingly strange, but effective apparatus to do this, and I encourage you to come up with your own effective system, or adopt one similar to mine. I place a wide, but very thin spatula on top of the sandwich to distribute the weight of a small custard ramekin, and I place the frying pan lid on top. I find that by using a frying pan lid as a weight, it also helps to keep some heat in the pan, but is up high enough from the pan that steam doesn't fall onto the sandwich and make it soggy. I know Pampered Chef and Williams Sonoma actually sell really nice, cast iron presses that are specifically for this purpose, but I don't feel an immediate need for one, especially when I can use my own really hip looking pressing technique.
The photo of the final product is below, in my wonderful Tomato bisque post, which is exactly what we like to eat with this amazingly rich garlic bacon grilled cheese sandwich. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
* When I eat meat, I use USDA certified organic meats and dairy, whenever possible, because "The USDA organic seal verifies that producers met animal health and welfare standards, did not use antibiotics or growth hormones, used 100% organic feed, and provided animals with access to the outdoors."
My only alternative to USDA Certified Organic meats and dairy, is buying meats that I feel come from animals that have been humanely treated, based on the Whole Foods 5-step Animal Welfare Rating Standards system.
I encourage you to use these systems to make your own judgements about where your food comes from and how it has been raised.
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