Ada (a grilled cheese sandwich)

In Brooklyn there is a fantastic bar called Noorman's Kil. They serve whiskey and grilled cheese.  I could not recommend this place enough.  If you ever go to NYC with me, I will probably drag you there.  Anyway they decided to have a grilled cheese competition and of course I decided I would enter it (why not!).  I tested out at least eight different recipes and this one was the clear winner.  I submitted this recipe and they picked it as a finalist so I got to compete in their grill-off.

Ingredients:

• Bread*
• Smoked Gouda
• Cheddar**
• Gruyere**
• Vidalia Onions (you will caramelize them)
• Butter
• Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

1. Chop your onions.
2. Heat some butter in a heavy pot and when it's melted, dump in the onions.
3. The goal here is to caramelize the onions, so basically keep it pretty low, stir it every once in a while but not too too much.  If you have never done this before, look it up.  There are far better directions on other sites.
4. Once you have caramelized onions,, take them off the heat and add some balsamic vinegar.  Don't go too crazy.  Taste it and add more if you need it.
5. Grate your cheeses.  If you slice it, it won't melt as evenly.  You can go the lazy route but if you have a nice grater*** it's not too much extra effort.
6. Assemble your sandwich. Bread. Tiny sprinkling of cheddar/gruyere. Thick layer of smoked gouda. Thin layer of balsamic onions. Thick layer of cheddar gruyere. Bread
7. Press that sandwich on a panini press.  If you don't have one, you can try cooking it the regular way in a pan but it's going to be trickier.
8. Slice in half and enjoy.

In case you were wondering, I came in first place. If you go during May of this year (2014) you can order it off of their menu.

* For the competition it was required that we use Orwashers bread so I used their Chardonnay Miche. For testing I used Trader Joe's Tuscan Pane Loaf.  You can use anything similar.

** If you have a Trader Joe's you can use their "Cheddar Gruyere Melange" cheese.  That's what I did.  If you don't, you can buy some of each kind of cheese and just mix them yourself.

*** I think this is the one I have.  It is definitely worth the money.  I've had it for years and it is hands down the best cheese grater I have used in my entire life.