Five Takes on Grilled Cheese: Glam Your Grilled Cheese with these Five...

Chilly days and nights call for comfort food and there is no better choice than gooey grilled cheese sandwiches. Grilled cheese sandwiches are incredibly versatile and are welcome by kids and adults alike for meals, snacks, as well as entertaining guests.

Forget the boring grilled cheese sandwiches with canned tomato soup you grew up eating and give your sandwich a makeover. Upgrading your cheese choices is a good first step. According to Charles Duque, Director, The French Dairy Board for the Americas, "European cheeses aren't just for cheese boards, they add panache to even the simplest grilled cheese sandwiches."

Here are five takes on grilled cheese sandwiches that take them from everyday to extraordinary.

1. Go Blue!
Try blue cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich. According to Tia Keenan, author of the cheese cookbook Melt, Stretch & Sizzle "A little can go a long way, so choosing a high-quality blue like Bleu d'Auvergne, a really great, robust bread, and then something sweet like slices of fruit or some preserves to tuck into the grilled cheese is a good formula for flavor." Bleu d'Auvergne named for the Auvergne region of south-central France where it originated is aged for a minimum of 4 weeks and is spicy, peppery and pungent.

2. Think Dessert
Triple creme cheeses are rich and creamy. Often served for dessert, they can be particularly good in grilled cheese sandwiches. Remove the rind from a triple creme Brie and spread the cheese on one piece of bread. Slather the other piece of bread with hazelnut chocolate spread and close the sandwich. After the sandwich is closed heat the grilled cheese gently in a non-stick skillet coated in butter until toasted and brown. Let the sandwich cool slightly before slicing and serving. Cut into strips, these sandwiches are the perfect finger food dessert.

3. Ham & Cheese
If you like ham and Camembert on a baguette, you will love it grilled even more. Camembert is a cow's milk cheese that was originally made in the late 18th century in Normandy. It has a white bloom and can be soft and runny with a buttery and creamy sweet flavor that pairs particularly well with salty ham. Serve it holiday style with cranberry sauce on whole grain bread or use sourdough.

4. Make it a Combo
According to Keenan, "Everyone's heard of a 'three-cheese' grilled cheese, but some people are unsure about what cheeses to combine. An easy formula is a great melting cheese like Comté and a soft cheese like Camembert then add a harder "accent cheese" like Mimolette. The ratio in the blend should be 3:2:1."

5. Add a Veggie
The Buckboard Bacon Melt is a classic on the menu at Cochon Butcher shop in New Orleans. It contains a soft and leaner style of bacon, although brown sugar bacon would work too. The sandwich has blanched collard greens that should be squeezed dry, aged white Cheddar, and a little kick from pickled banana peppers. It's served on sourdough sandwich bread and the sandwich is toasted using a Paganini grill.

About Cheeses of Europe
The Cheeses of Europe Marketing Campaign, orchestrated by CNIEL (The French Dairy Inter-Branch Organization) and co-funded by the European Union, was designed to create awareness for the variety of European cheeses available in the US market and to suggest ways that American consumers can incorporate those cheeses into their diets, recipes and lifestyles. The campaign's goal is to increase the appeal of European cheeses and strengthen their competitive position in the growing specialty cheese category.

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THE CONTENT OF THIS ADVERTISEMENT REPRESENTS THE AUTHOR'S POINT OF VIEW ONLY AND IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AUTHOR. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY USE THAT MAY BE MADE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN.

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