Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese |Cooking With Amanda

My favorite place to eat when I was in college was this dive Mexican restaurant. The food was greasy and the beers were cheap; it was the perfect place for college students. My friends and I would pretty much order the exact same thing each time we went there. We always ordered a pitcher of beer and jalapeño poppers. Literally an order of jalapeño poppers for each of us; we didn't like sharing.

Those poppers were extraordinary. They were deep-fried and bursting at the seams with hot, melted cream cheese and cheddar cheese. I could eat my entire plate and still be hungry for more. That was the beginning of my long-standing love affair with jalapeño poppers.

I still think about those jalapeño appetizers. I don't eat a lot of fried foods these days, so instead I get creative and make my own baked jalapeno poppers, popper mac and cheese or popper beer cheese whenever I need my fix. And now I have my latest creation; these jalapenño goat cheese sandwiches taste remarkably similar to those creamy poppers from my college days, but with a sophisticated little twist.

These sandwiches combine spreadable goat cheese and cream cheese on soft artisan bread. Fresh jalapeños are sliced and placed right on top but the secret to making these sandwiches superb is the dollop of apricot jam. The spicy, creamy, sticky-sweet combination is outstanding! This sandwich is flavorful, bold and just a little messy, just the way I like it! While I do have measurements listed, as with most of my sandwiches you should adjust them all to your liking. The cheese mixture is generous as is the jam; reduce or increase them as you see fit. I used two large jalapeños for each sandwich, but I LOVE jalapeños.

Next time I make jalapeño poppers, I'm sneaking in some apricot jam and I might serve it with cheap beer too, just for memories sake.

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Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese Recipe

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Ingredients

4 slices artisan style bread, such as sara lee
2 teaspoons butter
2 ounces soft goat cheese
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 jalapeños, seeded and halved
2 tablespoons apricot jam

Directions

Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Spread one side of each bread slice with 1/2 teaspoon of butter. Place two slices of bread, buttered side down onto hot grill pan.
Combine goat cheese and cream cheese in a bowl; divide mixture between the two bread slices. Place two jalapeño halves onto each bread slice and place a dollop of apricot jam on the jalapeños. Cover with remaining bread slice, buttered side facing up.
Brown each side for 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately.