Food Watch (national): Don't forget to celebrate National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day (April 12)

For National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, all post offices and banks operate on normal Saturday schedules. Check your municipal authority for information about trash collections. In NYC, alternate side of the street parking is suspended. (Note: That last part is a joke. Our lawyers say you can get into big trouble misrepresenting regulations on alternate side of the street parking.)

by Ken

Who can keep track of all these holidays? Apparently not only is tomorrow, April 12, National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, but the whole danged month is National Grilled Cheese Month. I haven't read the legal paperwork, but this could mean that we're supposed to be eating a grilled cheese sandwich every damned day of the month.

Punchbowl

"THE DECADENT GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH TO
END ALL DECADENT GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES"?


The Zillion Dollar Grilled Cheese, available only this month at Chicago's Deca Restaurant + Bar, is served with lobster mac 'n' cheese -- "because of course."

From HuffPost's Joseph Erbentraut ("This $100 Gilded Grilled Cheese Might Actually Be Worth It"):

Meet the "zillion dollar grilled cheese" available only this month at Deca Restaurant and Bar at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Chicago. Its price tag? $100.

The sandwich features thin slices of black Iberico ham sourced from acorn-fed free-range pigs living primary in southern Spain, Ellis Family Farms heirloom tomatoes, 100-year-old aged balsamic vinaigrette and Oregon Perigord white truffle aioli, according to a press release. Even the bread -- artisan country sourdough cooked in Laudemio Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi extra virgin olive oil -- is fancier than most.

And the kicker, of course, is the cheese: 40-year aged Wisconsin cheddar infused with 24k gold flakes. Yes, 24k gold flakes.

Finally, this grilled cheese is topped with Hudson Valley foie gras and a sunny-side-up duck egg, plus lobster macaroni and cheese on the side. Because of course.

OR, FOR A REFRESHING NEW SPIN, TRY
THESE FAMILY-FAVORITE RECIPES

Unfortunately we can't identify the family on account of they're currently in witness protection. (Oops, we probably weren't supposed to reveal that.)

The Hearty Mariner

Sardines, guacamole, piquillo peppers, tapioca, and port wine cheese, on 17-grain bread

Lox 'n' Stuff

Smoked salmon, peanut butter and mint jelly, eggplant medalions, roasted garlic, and Velveeta, on a bialy

The Italian

Genoa salami, pickled pork snout, Nutella, hot peppers, and lemon-flavored mascarpone, on foccaccia

Baa-baa Black Sheep

Lamb shanks, stewed rhubarb, dandelion honey, and roquefort or gruyere cheese, on either brioche or croissant
(Note: we have substituted the dandelion honey for the original recipe's Vicks VapoRub, which is not recommended for internal consumption. Sometimes candlewax was used, but that's probably not recommended either.)

And try this vegan treat:

Cauliflower ribbons, sprouts, flax seeds, hay, and pumpkin-seed fake-cheese, on crusty gluten-free alfalfa bread


AND DON'T FORGET: TOMORROW
IS ALSO NATIONAL LICORICE DAY!



However you like it -- licorice and eggs, licorice-and-chive mashed potatoes, sea bass poached with licorice, licorice crumb coffee cake, etc. -- enjoy! (Yes, the picture is in color. Can't you tell?)

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Food Watch (Jersey City): Not for the weak of stomach -- the bacon craziness just keeps getting crazier

What? You settle for a BLT made with fewer than 50 strips of bacon? Then you need to hie to Jersey City by April 1 to the Zeppelin Hall Spring Bacon Festival to sample the Fifty Shades of Bacon BLT. (Note that the sandwich comes with fries, in case you were worried that it might be too heart-healthy.)

by Ken

It was only last month that the March "Bacon Issue" of Food Network Magazine set DownWithTyranny Food Watch to wondering: "Hasn't the bacon thing by now gone a little too far? ('A little'? How about a lot?)" I'm not sure any more comment is required regarding the porkorama now in progress (through April 1) at Jersey City's Zeppelin Hall than you'll find in the Thrillist report by Cayla Zahoran, who took the pictures, and Thrillist NYC Editor Andrew Zimmer.

Bacon Cheesesteak


"Have you ever ordered a bacon cheesesteak and thought, 'Hey, there's way too much steak on this'? Well, your prayers have been answered with this cheesesteak loaded entirely with bacon. And feel free to call it a cheesebacon."


Bacon World-Tour Monster Sandwich

"If you were to travel around the entire globe sampling bacon, you'd be the awesomest traveler ever, but you'd also probably come back with an appetite for this guy: the Bacon World-Tour Monster Sandwich, loaded with 10 different types of bacon including smoked pork belly, Black Forest bacon, Irish bacon, beef bacon, pancetta, speck, turkey bacon, jowl bacon, Canadian bacon, and Tocineta Cascabel."


Double-Smoked Bacon Mac 'n Cheese


"This is the Double-Smoked Bacon Mac 'n Cheese. We suggest taking that bacon flower on top, crumbling it up amongst the pasta and cheese, and enjoying the change in texture as you destroy it."


Bacon-Bacon Terminator

"Fried onions, melty cheese, and tons of bacon top the Bacon-Bacon Terminator burger, but what makes it truly a machine sent from the future to end all human existence is that it's stuffed with chopped bacon, diced and smoked pork chop, and bacon au jus. Judgement Day, indeed."


Steak House Bacon


"Why anyone would want non-thick-cut bacon is a mystery, especially after downing this Steak House Bacon that's been double-smoked, grilled, and topped off with apple cider reduction and crispy onions."


WANT TO SEE MORE?

Like Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Ribs, Gulf Shrimp Draped in Pecan-Smoked Bacon, the Bacon-Wrapped Buffalo Hot Dog, Bacon Sausage Menage à Trois, Crispy Applewood Bacon Bathed in Chocolate Ganache, the BaconPop, and Bratwurst and Bacon Sliders? Visit the Thrillist article.

Meanwhile, here's the posted menu:




Zeppelin Hall Restaurant and Biergarten, 88 Liberty View Dr., Jersey City, NJ 07305. Reachable by PATH train (four blocks from the Grove Street station) or NJ Transit Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (one block from the Jersey Avenue stop). Note: You can buy tickets here.

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