Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tarragon and Bourbon Caramelized Shallots

The ultimate gourmet grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with chopped fresh tarragon, Bourbon caramelized shallots and melted, extra-sharp white cheddar cheese mixed with ground yellow mustard seeds for extra punch.

Grilled cheese is a classic for good reason. Melted cheese sandwiched between buttery and crispy fried bread simply can’t go wrong. But grilled cheese gets even better when you add a touch of gourmet!

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• Recipe ingredients and notes:
• Kitchen tools needed:
• Questions and Answers:
• How to make the sandwich:
• More sandwich recipes you’ll love:
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Recipe ingredients and notes:

• about 4 tablespoons unsalted butter – you need about half of the butter to caramelize the shallots and the other half to spread on the outside of the sandwiches. I always recommend unsalted butter simply because you can never know how much salt is in salted butter; the amounts differ from brand to brand.
• 3 shallots – peel the shallots and slice them more or less evenly so they caramelize evenly.
• 1 tablespoon Bourbon – arguably the most important ingredient in this recipe, Bourbon takes the caramelized shallots from pedestrian to spectacular by adding its signature oak and caramel flavors.
• 6 slices sourdough – thick slices of a dark and rustic loaf work best in this recipe.
• 6 ounces extra-sharp white cheddar cheese – I recommend to get a block of cheddar and grate it yourself, rather than buying already grated cheese, which is usually coated with corn starch to keep it from clumping.
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds – yellow mustard seed is one of the best spices for grilled cheese, in my opinion. The seeds have a sharpness that intensifies the sharp flavor of the cheddar without adding the acidity that actual mustard would add. If you start with whole seeds, you need to grind them in a mortar with a pestle into a powder. Or, you can simply buy already ground seeds.
• 30 fresh tarragon leaves – the flavor of tarragon works absolutely great with the Bourbon and the cheddar in this recipe.

Kitchen tools needed:

• cheese grater
• measuring spoon
• knife and cutting board
• non-stick frying pan or cast iron pan
• mixing bowl
• a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder are optional – if you don’t have them, just use already ground mustard seeds

Questions and Answers:

What is the best cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich?

Extra-sharp white cheddar is the best cheese for this particular grilled cheese sandwich recipe. The Bourbon and tarragon flavors are strong and need a strongly flavored cheese for balance.

What bread is best for grilled cheese?

I recommend that you use a crusty sourdough bread for this recipe.

Is mayo or butter better for grilled cheese?

For this particular recipe, I recommend that you use butter. Mayonnaise adds its signature tanginess and while that’s often a good thing, here it clashes with the flavor of the Bourbon caramelized shallots.

What can you add to grilled cheese?

This recipe works well as a stand-alone, complete meal and really doesn’t need any condiments or anything else.

How to make the sandwich:

How to caramelize shallots:

• In a pan, melt the butter.
• Add the sliced shallots to the butter and cook over medium heat until browned (this will take about 15 minutes).

Add the bourbon:

• Turn the heat off, add the Bourbon to the pan, turn the heat back on and cook for another minute, then set aside.

Prepare the bread:

• Generously spread butter on one side of each slice of bread.

How to assemble the sandwiches:

• Turn the bread slices upside down and top the non-buttered side with tarragon.
• Mix the cheese and the mustard seeds together in a bowl and add on top of the tarragon.
• Add the shallots onto the cheese.
• Top with the remaining slices of buttered bread, keeping the buttered side on the outside.

Fry the sandwiches:

• Heat a nonstick frying pan.
• Fry each sandwich on both sides until the cheese has melted and the outsides of the bread slices are browned.

More sandwich recipes you’ll love:

• Smoked Salmon Panini with Lemon Dill Mayonnaise
• Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Cranberry Grilled Sandwich

Made this recipe? It would be awesome if you could leave a rating. Either tap or click the stars in the recipe card or leave a comment below. Thanks!

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