I want to thank the Grilled Cheese Academy and WisconsinCheeseTalk.com for allowing me the opportunity to give away free cheese (and write a guest blog entry). It has been a great relationship that I hope will continue long into the future.

Now enough of the formalities, let me announce the winner of free Wisconsin cheese & a Grilled Cheese Academy t-shirt.

In choosing a winner I decided to look through each submitted recipe and choose the sandwich which I believed pushed the envelope of what a grilled cheese sandwich is. The desire behind this blog, and in my opinion the Grilled Cheese Academy, is to show the world that a grilled cheese can be so much more than processed American cheese stuck between two pieces of processed white bread. All of the entries takes this idea to heart, while one stood out beyond the others.

That sandwich, our winner, is the Trio of Grilled Cheese #1 created by Tara Coomans.

Marscapone Cheese + Fresh Strawberry slices. This is good enough for dessert..a little fresh whipped cream on this would have made for a great dessert.

Goat Cheese+Foie Gras Mousse. Very rich, spectacularly sinful. The mousse’s texture was really more like a pate. It could have been grilled, it was so firm.

Halloumi + Pom, Kamquat, Jalapeno, Ginger chutney (which can be found at weavethousandflavors.com): This was by far the most complex and savory and a really great foil to the sweetness in the Marscapone+Strawberry grilled cheese. I WAS a little disappointed b/c the Halloumi didn’t melt as I’d liked, so next time I’d prepare that on a thinner slice of bread. The chutney I used is very complex, but worth every second to make as its good on lots of things! (learn more)

Congratulations, Tara. Please email me your mailing address and we will make sure to send out the t-shirt and cheese!

P.S. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled to WisconsinCheeseTalk.com as I have another guest blog entry to be posted soon!