The Fall of Wilbur

I have to say, I’ve never seen nor read Charlotte’s Web. But I couldn’t resist a fun title that alludes to eating something that you all love so much. Not to mention the double meaning of the word fall. BOOM.

Oh wait, did you actually want to hear about the food itself and not my love of word play? Oh, fine, okay.

I don’t know if you know this, but I make grilled cheese sandwiches… CONSTANTLY. I love coming up with new ones. It’s like, my jam. So I really wanted to do something that embodied fall. I did one last year that was pretty great for that. It was a pumpkin butter and port salut grilled cheese. So this year I wanted to go in a different direction. I had a couple of ideas, but ultimately, I wanted something hearty. I decided to go with baked apples, ‘cause damn that’s fall. But I didn’t want it to be desserty. So this one uses the apples a sweet accent to some delicious sweet pulled pork and rich and delicious cheddar cheese.

Sorry about the dead pig jokes. Enjoy!

All the flavors of fall wrapped around this little piggy sandwich.

Pulled Pork and Baked Apple Grilled Cheese
1 apple, cored, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
juice from ½ lemon
4 large slices of rustic bread
aged, sliced cheddar
1 cup pulled pork, homemade or storebought
butter

Preheat oven to 350. Place apple slices, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice in a small baking dish. Toss to coat. Bake for 30 minutes.

Lay out your bread. Cover each slice completely in cheddar. Distribute the pulled pork between two of the bread slices. Spoon the baked apples over the pork. Close up the sandwich and butter both sides of the bread.

Preheat a skillet (iron, preferably) over medium heat. Place your sandwich (or sandwiches if your skillet is big enough) in the skillet. Cook for 5-6 minutes per side, or until the bread is brown and crusty and the cheese is melty and awesome.

Remove from heat and let set for a few minutes before slicing and omnomnoming.