15 April 2015

Chef Recipe: Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Crawfish, Pepper Jack and Shrimp-Tomato Bisque Soup: April Is National Grilled Cheese Month

Photo provided by Loews Hotels -- April is grilled cheese month, the perfect time to make Cafe Adelaide's take on Louisiana Crawfish-Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese With Smoked Tomato-Shrimp Bisque and Pickled Charred Chile Salad.

Source: Loews Hotel

From Denny: Now this is an exotic version of the humble comfort food: the American grilled cheese sandwich.

You have no idea how hard it was when visiting Austria a few years ago when I attempted to explain how to make a simple grilled cheese sandwich to a local chef. It was a seriously foreign concept to them. They didn't have a clue. Lots of delicious local cheeses yet no Austrian version of a grilled cheese sandwich! Imagine that.

This Louisiana version comes from executive chef Carl Schaubhut of Café Adelaide in New Orleans. Of course, as seafood, this rich sandwich is considered Lenten season friendly. Serve by pairing it with the shrimp-tomato bisque soup. Here in Louisiana we always look for an excuse to enjoy our bountiful seafood so why not go meat free on Fridays even when it isn't Lent? (You know, that special time that arrives after Mardi Gras and before Easter.) Our restaurants enjoy creating Lenten season menus, always topping themselves from the year previous!

Whenever I run across a chef recipe, especially from a hotel, I like to put up some information and links to the hotel site in case any of you might enjoy dining or stay with the hotel when you travel. After this long hard winter we are all ready for some vacation time!