Blueberry, Basil & Brie Grilled Cheese
Apparently, I’m in a jam mood.
Not emotionally. At least not today. I mean the kind involving fruit, sugar and a saucepan, which is considerably easier to solve.
Blueberries are one of those fruits I almost always have around, and when I started thinking about turning them into jam, plain blueberry seemed a little too well behaved. The basil in my garden is in full vigor and was practically volunteering, and lemon is rarely a bad idea when blueberries are involved. Especially if you don’t plan to use pectin.
So blueberry-basil-lemon jam it was.
The basil is important, but restraint is even more important. This shouldn’t taste like someone dropped a blueberry muffin into a bowl of pesto. A little basil gives the berries a fresh, slightly herbal note, while lemon wakes everything up and keeps the sweetness from becoming cloying.
The jam was lovely. I put some in a jar, admired it and probably could have stopped there.
But I did not stop there.
Because once I had this gorgeous dark-purple jam with basil and lemon, my brain wandered immediately into grilled-cheese territory.
I had sourdough. I had Brie. And I had American cheese.
Yes, American cheese. Before the cheese police arrive at my house, let me explain. Brie is wonderful, but American cheese melts with a silky enthusiasm that Brie simply doesn’t possess. Together, they’re ridiculously good. The American gives you that gooey, stretchy grilled-cheese middle, while the Brie brings the buttery richness.
Sweet blueberries, that little whisper of basil and bright lemon against the salty, creamy cheese, all tucked between crisp, buttery sourdough. Suddenly my innocent little batch of blueberry jam had become lunch.
And possibly the entire reason to make the jam in the first place.
Blueberry Basil Jam with Lemon
INGREDIENTS
4 cups fresh blueberries
1½ cups sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 heaping tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
Pinch of salt
METHOD
Place the blueberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the berries begin to burst and release their juices.
Once everything is bubbling, reduce the heat slightly and continue cooking for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring more frequently as the mixture thickens. Mash some of the berries with the back of your spoon, but leave plenty intact for texture.
To test the jam, put a small spoonful on a chilled plate. Give it a minute, then run your finger through it. If the jam wrinkles slightly and doesn’t immediately flood back together, you’re there.
Remove from the heat and stir in the fresh basil. I like adding the basil at the end because it keeps its fresh flavor rather than becoming dull and overly herbal.
Allow the jam to cool before transferring it to clean jars. This is a refrigerator jam, not a shelf-stable canning recipe. Keep it refrigerated.
Blueberry Basil & Brie Grilled Cheese
For each sandwich
2 slices good sourdough bread
1 to 2 tablespoons blueberry basil jam
1 slice American cheese
Several slices Brie
Softened butter
Butter the outsides of the sourdough.
On the inside, layer the American cheese and Brie, then spoon the blueberry basil jam over the cheese. Don’t go completely berserk with the jam. You want enough to get some in every bite without creating molten blueberry lava when you pick up the sandwich.
Close it up and cook in a skillet over medium-low heat until the sourdough is deeply golden and crisp and the cheeses have completely melted. Low and slow is your friend here. If the bread is browning before the Brie is getting gooey, turn the heat down.
Let the sandwich sit for a minute before cutting it.
That minute will feel unnecessary, but it isn’t.
Then cut it in half and watch the Brie, American cheese and purple jam ooze toward the plate.
I started out wanting to make blueberry jam.
I ended up discovering that blueberry-basil jam, Brie, American cheese and sourdough apparently had been waiting around for someone to introduce them.
You’re welcome.
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