More grilled goodies!

Alright maybe I've kind of diverged from the original raison-d'être for this blog. I might be getting too fancy. I honestly don't know since most cooking comes pretty easy to me and my instinct is that it comes pretty easily to most people if they just take the time to try it out. Let's hope I'm right!

With that in mind, I'm going to share some recipes that, while seeming pretty complex, are actually pretty easy if you follow the steps.

So, without further ado, I give you Bacon-Wrapped Peaches and "Real" Grilled Cheese.

Bacon-Wrapped Peaches

I give my friends Paul and Randy credit for originally putting these two awesome ingredients together. I tweaked the recipe for a party last Summer and got glowing reviews. So, your turn!

Ingredients (for 20 pieces)

- 5 ripe peaches, quartered
- 7 strips bacon, cut into 3 equal pieces
- 20 toothpicks, soaked in water for an hour or two
- 1/2 cup Irish whiskey
- 1/2 cup maple syrup

Preparation

- mix whiskey and syrup in a bowl
- put peaches and whiskey/syrup marinade in a large freezer bag, toss and place in fridge for 3-6 hours
- cook bacon strips about halfway and reserve. It's important that the bacon be cooked enough to have some solidity, but not enough to be easily broken. Essentially, you want it to be a little more malleable than beef jerky.
- loop 1 bacon slice per peach quarter and fasten with toothpick. This could get messy, but it doesn't need to be perfect. You'll have an extra slice of bacon. Feed it to the dog?
- preheat grill to about medium.
- grill each peach piece until bacon is fully cooked and peach starts to get soft.
- remove from heat, let cool for a few, EAT IT!


"Real" Grilled Cheese

I just put this one together last night and, while somewhat involved, it's pretty easy, and DEEEEElicious!

Ingredients

- 1 baguette or other similar bread, sliced (like they do at the deli)
- sliced smoked gruyere or gouda cheese
- precooked bacon (optional)

brushing oil

- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2-3 drops liquid smoke

Essentially, crush a peeled garlic clove with the flat end of a knife (or hammer, or your fist, or head, or whatever you feel like using), add to oil, add liquid smoke to oil, stir and elt sit for a couple of hours.

2 - caramelized onions

- 1 small sweet onion, sliced
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp butter

- coat the onions in brown sugar, let sit for 30 mins or so
- fry the onions and sugar in butter until sugar caramelizes on onions, about 5-7 mins at medium-high heat. Set aside.

Putting together the sandwich

- on one half of the bread, layer cheese, bacon and onions. If possible, try to get cheese on both the top and bottom half of the bread.
- replace the tops and brush the tops of both sides of the loaf liberally with brushing oil.
- grill on medium-low heat, enough to toast the bread and melt the cheese. Use a spatula to press down on bread if you want a panini-like consistency.
- remove from eat, allow to cool enough to handle, EAT!


And that's that!