Sauerkraut and Apple Grilled Cheese

“All around best sandwich I ever tasted.”-My dad

Being Pennsylvania Dutch, every New Year’s Day, we eat pork and sauerkraut.  It’s a tradition to bring good luck for the new year.  I’ve been thinking about other ways to use sauerkraut in recipes and found this recipe for grilled cheese with sauerkraut and apples from Barbara Cooks and decided to put a local spin on it by making my own sauerkraut and apple grilled cheese.

I gotta tell you, this sauerkraut and apple grilled cheese sandwich almost got the better of me. I really wanted to use bread from McGrath’s Bakehouse.  Their loaves are not pre-cut so I had to cut the bread myself.  This seems like it would be an easy task, but because their Irish Oatmeal Pan Bread is so soft, I split the tops of the slices as I cut them.  The bread would have made a fantastic sandwich if I could have kept it together, but I ended up spilling the cheese, apples, and sauerkraut all over the pan when I tried to flip the sandwich over.  Luckily for my dad, he got to eat the mess up and I got to remake the sandwich with different bread.  Can you see the split in the picture?

The apple and mustard relish are from Strites’ Orchard.  You have to go to Strites’ and pick up the mustard relish. It really makes the sandwich pop.  I can’t wait to try it on other sandwiches.  I highly recommend using a Granny Smith apple.  It’s tart and balances perfectly with the sweet and sour flavors from the sauerkraut and the creaminess of the sharp cheddar.

The beautiful purple sauerkraut comes from Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-Op.  It’s got simple ingredients and the cabbage is grown in Lancaster.

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Sauerkraut and Apple Grilled Cheese

Course Main

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 2 sandwiches

Author Mikaela

Ingredients

• 4 slices bread
• 4-6 oz sharp cheddar cheese sliced
• 1 Granny Smith apple sliced
• 1/3 cup sauerkraut
• 1-2 Tbsp mustard relish
• 1 Tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Heat a pan on medium-low heat. Butter 2 slices of bread. Spread the mustard relish on the other side of the slices of bread and place them butter side down in the pan.
2. Divide half the cheese, apples, sauerkraut, and remaining half of the cheese on each slice of bread.
3. Butter the remaining 2 slices of bread and place them butter side up on the sandwiches.
4. Brown the sandwiches about 5 minutes until the cheese starts melting and use a spatula to flip the sandwiches and brown them an additional 5 minutes.

This is one satisfying sandwich to eat and I am sure you will agree.  Do you like sauerkraut?  Let me know in the comments!