Hey everyone! Happy St. Patrick’s day (belated)! Are you one of those people who likes to celebrate every holiday with themed food? I am! I used to say that I was doing it for my kids but let’s be honest here; it’s me….all me. You see, my dream job is to be a party planner. I love, love, love to come up with party themes and create the perfect atmosphere…right down the food. So, holidays are a natural outlet for that kind of behavior. You see recipes that are designed around the holidays and the stores are full of the corresponding paraphanalia like table decorations and napkins and plates. St. Patrick’s day has always been a kind of fail for me. My husband usually does the cooking of corned beef and cabbage from a recipe that he found long ago and I do make the traditional Irish Soda Bread. Some years I will make green cake with green icing to take to work. But I feel that I don’t put enough effort into that holiday which is really crazy because I am supposedly from Irish heritage. This year I decided to add a lunch dish that was St. Patty’s-centric. A week or so ago I purchased a nice corned beef and let it cook along in the crockpot with a bit of water and the included spices all night long on low. Then the following day for lunch I sliced that bad boy into about 1 inch slices and used it as a filling in a grilled cheese sandwich. I also caramelized some sweet onions in beer (Guinness, of course) and used a couple of kinds of creamy, white cheese. I layered all of these ingredients on some beautiful marbled rye bread and grilled it up in melted butter. My, Oh, My! These were delicious. My boys said so and I believe everything they say…ok, maybe not but I believe them about food. They can be tough critics.
Now to start with, you have to have a nice cooked corned beef. I bought this one this one at my local Walmart and cooked it with a little water and the included spice packet all night in my slow cooker but you can bake it if you prefer. Once it was cooked I set the crockpot on warm and set it aside while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.
Shred the Jarlsberg or Fontina cheese and set aside. I purchased my Havarti pre-sliced but if you don’t then now would be the time to slice it up.
Thinly slice up 2 medium sweet or yellow onions . Melt 4 tablespoons (½ cup of butter) in a large skillet or pot. Add the onion slices and sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of sugar over the onions. Season with ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper.
Cook the onions over medium heat until softened and golden brown. Make sure to stir them once in awhile so that they don’t burn. This takes about 10 minutes.
Pour in the beer (I used Guinness) and cook another 10 minutes or until the liquid thickens and looks a little like syrup. Remove the pan from the heat and add 1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 1 Tablespoon of mustard. Also add the caraway seeds now if you are using those.
Slice the corned beef in about 1 inch slices. Since the beef of generally not a tall cut of meat you will need to piece a couple of slices together on your bread. Don’t worry the cheese will help hold it together.
Gather all of your sandwich components. You can grill these sandwiches on a griddle or in a large skillet. Lay out 4 slices of your bread and layer with 2 slices of Havarti cheese. Then add the corned beef slices. You will most likely need 2 slices of beef on each sandwich to cover the entire slice of bread. There will be beef left to save for another meal. Add enough of the caramelized onions to cover the beef. Top all of this with a handful of shredded cheese and remaining bread slices.
Melt some butter on the griddle or in the skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Add the completed sandwiches and grill until lightly browned and crispy. Flip them over carefully and do the same to the other side. I brushed some more butter on the my griddle when I flipped the sandwiches so both sides would have a nice brown crisp surface.
Plate these up and serve while nice and hot.
Corned Beef and Onion Grilled Cheese
A twist on an Irish favorite. Sliced corned beef with 2 kinds of cheese, beer caramelized onions on marble rye bread.
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons of butter (1/2 cup)
- 2 medium yellow or sweet onions
- 1 Tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup dark beer, I used Guinness
- 1 corned beef brisket (at least 2.5 to 3 pounds)
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of yellow or Dijon mustard
- 2 cups shredded Jarlsberg or Fontina Cheese
- 8 slices of Havarti or Muenster Cheese
- 8 slices of marble rye or rye bread
- Butter for grilling sandwiches - about 4 Tablespoons
Directions
- Step 1 Cook up your corned beef any way that you desire. I used the slow cooker and let it go for about 8 hours on low with 1/2 cup of water and the included spice packet. Once this is done you can turn the beef off or change the setting to warm and set it aside.
- Step 2 Shred the Jarlsberg or Fontina cheese and set aside along with sliced Havarti or Muenster cheese.
- Step 3 Thinly slice 2 medium sweet or yellow onions.
- Step 4 Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in a large skillet or pot.
- Step 5 Add the onions. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden in color (about 10 minutes).
- Step 6 Add the beer and cook for another 10 minutes or so until the liquid has reduced and become thick and syrupy.
- Step 7 Remove the pan from the heat and add Worcestershire sauce, mustard and the caraway seeds if using.
- Step 8 Cut the corned beef in 1 inch slices.
- Step 9 On each of the 4 slices of bread layer with 2 slices of cheese, beef slices (you may need 2 slices of beef for each sandwich), enough onions to cover the beef and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Top with the remaining bread slices.
- Step 10 Melt enough butter on your griddle or in your skillet to cover the bottom thinly.
- Step 11 Carefully transfer the sandwiches to the grilling surface and cook over medium-low heat until the bottom bread is nicely browned and the cheeses have begun to soften.
- Step 12 Carefully flip the sandwich and cook on the remaining side. You may need to smear on a little more butter before putting the sandwich back down to cook on the 2nd side.
- Step 13 When both sides are browned and the cheese has melted to your liking remove to a plate. Serve hot.
