Mini Grilled Cheese PWC

Food trucks in Los Angeles are a big deal. Last week, the famous Grilled Cheese Truck was hanging out during lunch time. My whole office was freaking out and I seriously thought about paging the Doctors to let them know it was here (I work in a hospital setting). I decided to keep it professional and just gave my order to my office mate and told anyone and everyone I came in contact with that afternoon. The sandwich I ordered had double cream brie, pears and honey on cranberry walnut bread. Since the truck isn't always only a few paces away, it prompted me to make my own mini grilled cheeses that would be the perfect appetizer or side bite to an autumn meal. Thank you Grilled Cheese Truck for the inspiration. Your sandwiches are totally worth the hype. For those of you who are not in LA, I highly recommend my recipe, posted below.

Grilled Cheese with Dried Cranberries, Caramelized Pears and Toasted Walnuts

 

Ingredients

 

2/3 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup walnuts 

2 pears, diced (I used an organic bosc pear and a green bartlett pear. I found the organic variation to be bitter. Go for the bartlett!)

1 french baguette, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

1 wedge double cream brie cheese

2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of sugar to carmelize the pear

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the sugar. (Carmelization typically calls for brown sugar but you can use brown or white)

Add the diced pears to the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes (Just enough time to soften them)

Remove the pears from the saucepan and combine with the walnuts and dried cranberries.

Chop up the PWC mixture into small pieces, or put it into a food processor and pulse to chop.

Lay the baguette slices on a baking sheet.

Spread the brie on half of the slices. 

Top the brie slices with the PWC mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes (This toasts the walnuts and melts the cheese)

Make mini sandwiches by placing the plain baguettes on top of the brie PWC baguettes.

Serve and enjoy! If you're lucky, you'll have some PWC mix left over. It's great by the spoonful.

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