Quesus Cheeseburger

Overview

This double-fisted sandwich was inspired by the famous Grilled Cheese Grill Cheesus Burger. Pronounced kay-ZOOSE, it’s a spicier version, thanks to jalapeños and Tillamook Pepperjack Cheese. With grilled cheese sandwiches for buns, it’s the sandwich that’s hard to pick up and hard to put down.

"We like to think of it as Cheesus’s Spanish-speaking cousin. Make sure you’re hungry, because it’s a monster of a meal." – Matt Breslow of the Grilled Cheese Grill

Ingredients

8 slices of regular white bread (think longer, skinnier Wonder Bread)
4 slices of Tillamook^® Pepper Jack Cheese
4 slices of Tillamook^® Medium Cheddar Cheese
2 fresh jalapeno pepper, deseeded and julienned
1 fresh white or yellow onion, julienned
2 burger patties, 1/3 lb each
1 cup iceberg lettuce, chopped
4 slices fresh tomato
Tillamook^® Salted Butter, melted
Ketchup
Mustard
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat a flat-top griddle or two frying pans to medium/medium-high heat (a nudge above 6 if there’s a dial). With a small paring knife, cut the tip off the jalapeno, then slice down the middle of the jalapeno. Scoop out the seeds, flatten, and slice. Toss onto the grill, and add a pinch of salt and pepper. At the same time, grill the sliced onions in a separate pile. Begin cooking the burger, and add salt and pepper to taste. After two minutes on one side, flip the burger, and salt and pepper the top side. Turn your onions and jalapenos, which should be pretty soft and almost cooked.

Place a slice of cheese on each piece of bread (half the slices will be cheddar, half will be pepper jack). With melted butter, brush one side of each slice of bread and place on the griddle or second frying pan. Flip the burger again.

The jalapenos and onions should now be ready. Place the onions atop one side of bread and cheese, and the jalapenos on another. If balance and symmetry are not important to you, then this will not matter, but if it does, pair onions with cheddar cheese and jalapenos with pepper jack cheese.  

Assemble the Cheeseburgers
Once your burger appears done, the juices will be running clear and no longer bloody. Once your sandwiches are well toasted (the cheese should be fairly “sweaty” and the undersides of the bread should appear golden brown), flip one cheddar side onto the other cheddar side, and the same with the pepper jack sides, forming two complete sandwiches. Give them a little press to get the two sides of cheese to melt more into each other.

Once the sandwiches are cohesive and melty, remove them to a cutting board. Apply ketchup and mustard to taste on the top side of each sandwich, and finish compiling your burger, adding the patty, lettuce and tomato between the two sandwiches. Close it up, cut it in half, and marvel at the cross section for a moment before biting into it.

Enjoy!