It sounds pretty good though I don’t really like fruit in my food. I didn’t win but I had a great time in the SANDWICHLab cooking up a few batches of grilled cheese. My entry was taleggio, sauteed crimini mushrooms and spicy russian dressing on thinly sliced ciabatta, paired with a Storm King stout. They were very tasty, but a touch too salty. Along the way I experimented with prosciutto, sauteed morels and sauteed black trumpet mushrooms. The crimini’s flavor came out the strongest against the cheese while the prosciutto was too salty.

They tasted about as good as they looked. If you aren’t hungry after looking at these, you must be very lactose-intolerant:

Ahem. Apparently their cheesy for-the-people experiment went so well, they’re having a grilled cheese contest on their facebook wall and declare April grilled cheese month [grilled cheese menu for studying, pdf]. You read that right, the place with $15 grilled cheese sandwiches has a facebook page. Here I thought facebook was for college kids and Artisanal is for business lunches! Times they are a changin’! (You need a facebook account to participate, but can read about the contest on their site)

The contest is pretty sweet. You have until April 17th to post your recipe on their facebook wall and if they like it they invite you to a judging on April 29th where Terrance Brennan (Artisanal / Pincoline), Eric Rpiert (Le Bernadin), Josh Ozersky (editor of CitySearch), Tanya Wenman Steel (Editor in Cheif of Epicurious.com), Rob Kaufelt (owner of Murray’s Cheese) will rate them on “taste, texture, and originality”.

The winning sandwich gets on the menu at Artisanal, dinner for two at Artisanala and a cheese gift basket, though you don’t get a cut of the sales of your sandwich.

Some sandwichy stipulations:

Recipe Guidelines:

* Sandwich recipes submitted should be in keeping with the artisanal, local and organic products used at Artisanal.
* Recipes must specify the thickness of the bread.
* Recipes should specify the approximate thickness, weight or amount of the cheese.
* Recipes should specify how to cook the sandwich including cooking time.
* Other ingredients should be measured in cups, tablespoons and teaspoons, not ounces.

I’m going to call it right here and now: the winning sandwich will feature some fancy cheese mixture with either bacon or pork belly. Two food’s of the moment join for contest winnings!

Anyone going to enter?

Bacon, cheddar and apple grilled cheese from Artisanal: