Cheese Dreams

It's been a while.  How've you been?  I haven't done a whole lot of cooking lately.  I mean, I have been cooking but not really cooking.  Know what I mean?  All I have been doing is really simple, thrown together dinners.  Sometimes those are some of the tastiest but I haven't referred to a cookbook in a couple of weeks.  I kind of miss it.  Soon.  I will get back to them soon.

I am on my own at least one night a week and I don't usually cook a full meal.  Sometimes I do pancakes, sometimes eggs, sometimes pasta.  It is usually really simple and quick.  One of these nights, I get home from work, take Maddux for a walk, and then go into the kitchen and open the fridge.  Don't you love that?  Just open the fridge and make a dinner out of what you can find.  This night, I had some bacon in the fridge and a tomato on the counter.  I thought BLTs.  But, no lettuce.  I really wanted to use the bacon and tomato and I started thinking.  Bacon and tomato omlette, grilled cheese and bacon.  Then I remembered something my mother used to make as a quick and easy dinner for my brother and I: Cheese Dreams.  Don't you just love that name?  It was an open faced bacon, tomato, and cheese sandwich that gets all brown and bubbly.  Dinner was planned.

How good is bacon?  I really does make everything better.  I prefer mine almost to the point of burnt.  I love it extra crispy.  None of that limp, chewy stuff.  That is such an unappealing texture in your mouth.  I cooked up the bacon and put some toast under the broiler and built my Cheese Dreams.  Cheesy, bacony, tomatoey goodness.

Cheese Dreams

A recipe by Noelle at A Homemade Kitchen

This really isn't a recipe.  It is bread, cheese, bacon, and tomato.  You can then add whatever else you might like.  And you can use any kind of bread or cheese.  You could also add some mustard or aioli if you like.  This night, this is what I used and how I did it:

Bread, any (I used wheat sandwich bread)

Bacon

Tomato

Cheese, any kind (I used good old white American - remember the kind you used to get a slice of at the deli at the grocery store when you were a kid?  Yeah, that one)

Chives, for garnish, if desired

Preheat broiler

Cook bacon at your preferred method (baking, broiling, frying) until it is cooked to your desired doneness.  Place bread on baking sheet and toast under the broiler for 1 minute.  Don't burn the bread!

At this point, you could rub the toast with a crushed garlic clove or add any condiment that you like.  Then, top with cheese, bacon, tomato, and more cheese.  Place baking sheet back under the broiler.  Cook until cheese is all brown, melty, and bubbly.

Remove from oven and top with chives, if desired.  Serve immediately.